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Lee Min-hyung

Korea Times Business Reporter

Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.

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Hyundai Motor moves to sidestep self-driving fallout in India

Hyundai Motor’s bet on India is being overshadowed by Tesla’s technological leap toward flying cars, exposing the Korean carmaker’s self-driving doldrums. Hyundai Motor Group recently pledged $15.5 billion (20.7 trillion won) in investment in India through 2032, seeking to strengthen its position in one of the world’s fastest-growing major automotive markets. The commitment spans manufacturing expansion, research and development, supplier development and next-generation technologies. However, the scale of the investment does not guarantee that India will become a reliable growth engine capable of offsetting mounting challenges in its cash-cow markets, such as the United States, Korea and Europe. Hyundai Motor and Kia sold a combined roughly 850,000 vehicles in India last year, with sales growth of just 0.2 percent. That performance lagged significantly behind local rivals Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, whose sales rose 18.4 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, during the same period. The gap reflects a competitive landscape in which established domestic players have streng

Oct 18, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor moves to sidestep self-driving fallout in India
Companies

Musk's criticism of Samsung, SK's memory chip pricing runs counter to market logic: expert

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s latest criticism of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix over their memory chip pricing defies market realities, as any chipmaker that undercuts prevailing prices risks selling out immediately and leaving other customers without supplies, a prominent U.S. chip analyst said. Jim Handy, founder and general director of semiconductor research firm Objective Analysis, challenged Musk's recent description of the Korean chipmakers' prices as “extortionate,” compared with those of their U.S. rival Micron. The chip expert underscored that memory prices are determined by market forces rather than individual suppliers. “Memory makers do not set their parts’ pricing — the market determines the pricing,” Handy said in a written interview with The Korea Times, Sunday. “In that light, it is hard to understand Musk’s comment.” Musk is looking to manufacture chips in-house through his Terafab project, with soaring memory prices an increasingly pressing concern for his ambitions. He posted on X on Tuesday (local time), “Micron has been reasonable regarding future m

Oct 18, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Musk's criticism of Samsung, SK's memory chip pricing runs counter to market logic: expert
Companies

Hyundai Motor's tech bets face headwinds as core business loses steam

Hyundai Motor’s weakening auto profitability is raising questions about the sustainability of its costly investments in robotics and autonomous driving, as the technologies remain years away from generating significant earnings. The company is betting on Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot, its own software-defined vehicle (SDV) and autonomous driving capabilities as three core pillars for its future mobility. Yet those businesses are far from generating tangible earnings, leaving Hyundai increasingly dependent on its conventional auto business which faces mounting earnings pressure from labor disputes at home, tariffs from the United States and intensifying competition from Chinese automakers in Europe. The timing gap between its weakening core business and future growth engines is becoming harder for investors to overlook. Hyundai’s shares have fallen around 60 percent from their June 1 peak of 783,000 won ($587) to less than 320,000 won on Monday, reflecting fading enthusiasm for its robotics ambitions and growing doubts over its earnings outlook. The pressure continues to be

Oct 15, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor's tech bets face headwinds as core business loses steam
Companies

Hyundai Motor Group chief marks 6 years at helm with physical AI ambitions

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun marks six years at the helm on Wednesday, spearheading the automaker’s transformation into a global top-three auto player by sales and steering it into a key future mobility player focusing on robotics, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI). The next phase of his leadership, however, will hinge on whether the group can turn its physical AI ambitions into profitable businesses. Chung is also tasked with addressing mounting pressure on its core automotive operations and labor relations. Since taking the top post in 2020, Chung has overseen Hyundai Motor and Kia’s rise to the world’s third-largest automotive group by vehicle sales, behind Toyota and Volkswagen. The group maintained that ranking for four consecutive years through 2025. Hyundai Motor and Kia’s combined annual sales also surpassed the symbolic mark of 300 trillion won ($223 billion) for the first time last year. The expansion reflects a strategy that combined electrification with a stronger focus on high-margin vehicles, including SUVs and Genesis luxury m

Oct 14, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor Group chief marks 6 years at helm with physical AI ambitions
Companies

Lexus Korea unveils 1st all-electric ES sedan

Lexus Korea has launched its first all-electric ES sedan, expanding the luxury carmaker’s electrification strategy beyond its established hybrid lineup, as it moves to strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive electric vehicle (EV) market, the company said Tuesday. The eighth-generation All-New ES lineup comprises the ES 350e and ES 500e EVs alongside the ES 350h hybrid, offering customers a choice between fully electric and hybrid powertrains. The launch carries strategic significance for Lexus, which has built its reputation in Korea largely on hybrid vehicles. While the Japanese luxury brand is well established in the premium hybrid sedan segment, it has been a latecomer to the all-electric market. “EVs are not a sudden move for Lexus Korea,” Lexus Korea CEO Manabu Konoyama told reporters during a media event. “Rather, they represent the next step, built on the experience and expertise we have accumulated through our hybrid vehicles.” The ES 350e, the entry-level electric model, starts at 71.6 million won ($53,500) and offers a driving range of 478 kilometers on

Oct 13, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Lexus Korea unveils 1st all-electric ES sedan
Companies

Tesla Korea's 'unverified' FSD under scrutiny

Tesla Korea’s vehicles equipped with supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) will be facing tighter scrutiny after the company came under criticism during the National Assembly’s annual audit, Thursday, over the system’s lack of an official safety evaluation by relevant authorities in Korea. Some 45,000 U.S.-made Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD are currently on Korean roads, but the autonomous driving system has not undergone a government safety test. During the audit, Tesla Korea Country Manager Seo Young-deuk said the company plans to seek formal approval for FSD in Korea. He acknowledged that it has not officially requested testing by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport or the Korea Transportation Safety Authority — two key authorities related with auto safety certification. “We have not requested any tests from the authorities,” Seo said. “If the government establishes a system and channel for verification, we will actively undergo the evaluation.” U.S.-made Tesla vehicles can currently operate with supervised FSD in Korea. More than 70 percent of Tesla Kor

Oct 8, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Tesla Korea's 'unverified' FSD under scrutiny
Companies

Lamborghini unveils ultra-fast Urus SUV, Revuelto SV sports car

Automobili Lamborghini Korea unveiled two of its latest high-performance models, Thursday, highlighting the country as the first Asia-Pacific market to see the Urus SE Performante and Revuelto SV. The event marked a major milestone for Lamborghini in Korea, with the brand also celebrating the delivery of its 3,000th vehicle in the country since Volkswagen Group Korea began operating the brand’s local import business. The Urus SE Performante, a high-performance plug-in hybrid SUV, and the Revuelto SV, a limited-edition plug-in hybrid super sports car, represent Lamborghini’s latest push to combine electrification with its performance-focused brand identity. The Urus SE Performante combines a twin-turbo eight-cylinder engine with an electric motor, producing a combined 812 horsepower. The Revuelto SV, based on Lamborghini’s 12-cylinder hybrid architecture, delivers more than 1,000 horsepower and will be limited to 1,963 units globally, commemorating Lamborghini’s founding year of 1963. “Korea is the No. 2 market in the Asia-Pacific region (in terms of the number of vehicle delive

Oct 8, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Lamborghini unveils ultra-fast Urus SUV, Revuelto SV sports car
Companies

Korea has no plans to follow US push to replace term AI with 'super intelligence'

Korea is not considering to replace the term artificial intelligence (AI) with “super intelligence,” or SI, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT, distancing itself from a terminology push underway in the United States. An official from the ministry told The Korea Times that the government has no plans of replacing AI with SI. “There has been no consideration at our level of using such terminology,” the official said on Tuesday. The clarification came after Deputy Prime Minister and Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, during a National Assembly audit earlier in the day, used the term SI while describing U.S. efforts to secure leadership in advanced AI competition. The Donald Trump administration has been promoting the use of SI instead of AI. Trump signed an executive order titled "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence" on Sept. 29, requiring federal executive agencies to use SI instead of AI in official documents, including websites, reports and policy papers. The shift has also drawn attention from the private sector. Elon Musk has said he plans to rename SpaceX’s AI

Oct 8, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Korea has no plans to follow US push to replace term AI with 'super intelligence'
Companies

SK Energy, HD Hyundai Oilbank face fines over alleged fuel price fixing

SK Energy and HD Hyundai Oilbank may face sanctions from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations that they colluded on gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices, with combined fines potentially reaching 4.63 trillion won ($3.45 billion). The antitrust regulator said Wednesday that it sent a review report to the two companies, formally launching deliberations over the alleged price-fixing case. The FTC said the alleged collusion lasted from February 2022, shortly before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, through March this year, shortly after the outbreak of the war in Iran. The case covers petroleum products that are essential to household and economic activity. Korea's oil refining industry is highly concentrated, with SK Energy, HD Hyundai Oilbank, GS Caltex and S-Oil accounting for about 98 percent of the domestic market. According to the FTC, SK Energy and HD Hyundai Oilbank exchanged information on the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, including provisional prices, final prices and sales policies. The regulator also determined that the two companies colluded on prices followin

Oct 7, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
SK Energy, HD Hyundai Oilbank face fines over alleged fuel price fixing
Companies

LG Electronics' Q3 profit rises on home appliances, auto parts

LG Electronics reported solid earnings growth in the third quarter, driven largely by strong performance in its home appliance and vehicle component businesses, the company said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. The electronics maker posted an operating profit of 781.8 billion won ($583 million) for the July-September period, up 13.5 percent from a year earlier. Sales rose 8.9 percent to 23.82 trillion won. The company attributed the growth to robust sales of its core businesses and continued expansion of business-to-business (B2B) operations. Its home appliance and vehicle solutions businesses maintained solid profitability, while its TV business also improved profitability from a year earlier. For the first nine months, LG Electronics’ sales reached a record 71.38 trillion won, up 9.2 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit also hit a record 4.03 trillion won, up 55.9 percent. Despite unfavorable external business conditions, including conflicts in the Middle East, the company said it continued to grow sales by maintaining its strong market positions in its core businesses and

Oct 7, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
LG Electronics' Q3 profit rises on home appliances, auto parts
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