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Nam Hyun-woo

Korea Times Business Reporter

Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.

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Companies

Hope grows for Korean firms to join supply chains of Elon Musk empire

As Elon Musk's business empire continues to expand, expectations are rising for Korean firms to deepen their presence in supply chains spanning semiconductors, chipmaking equipment and telecommunications. According to industry officials, HPSP, a domestic semiconductor equipment maker, has recently received purchase orders for its High-Pressure Hydrogen Annealing (HPA) pilot equipment for Tesla's Terafab. HPA is a front-end process that uses highly compressed hydrogen gas to heat-treat semiconductor wafers, helping reduce leakage currents and improve power efficiency. The technology has been widely used in foundry manufacturing and is increasingly being adopted for advanced memory chips. HPSP is the leading player in the global HPA market. Terafab is a $119 billion semiconductor project in Texas aimed at establishing a semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI)chip manufacturing ecosystem involving Tesla, SpaceX and Intel. The facility is expected to supply chips needed for computing infrastructure supporting SpaceX operations, Tesla's autonomous driving and robotics technologies and

1d agoBy Nam Hyun-woo
Hope grows for Korean firms to join supply chains of Elon Musk empire
Society

JoongAng Ilbo files for creditor-led workout program

JoongAng Ilbo, one of Korea's leading newspapers, has filed for a creditor-led workout program, as the liquidity crisis at its parent JoongAng Group deepens to threaten the group's affiliates, including major broadcaster JTBC. According to the newspaper on Friday, it filed for a workout program with its main creditor Hana Bank, in a bid to restructure its debt and improve its financial health through negotiations with creditors. "We will continue discussions with creditors and faithfully devise effective debt restructuring measures and plans to normalize management," the newspaper said in a press release. Earlier this week, five JoongAng Group subsidiaries — JoongAng Holdings, JTBC, Contentree JoongAng, Megabox JoongAng and JoongAng P&I — filed for court receivership after JTBC defaulted on a 20.6 billion won ($13.6 million) debt repayment. The groupwide financial crisis also affected JoongAng Ilbo. On Thursday, Hanyang Securities, which holds 22 billion won worth of commercial paper issued by the newspaper, demanded early repayment of the short-term debt, citing heightened credit ri

1d agoBy Nam Hyun-woo
JoongAng Ilbo files for creditor-led workout program
Companies

BioTNS selected as host of gov't's ultra-precision digital PCR project

BioTNS, a Korean molecular diagnostics company, was selected as the host organization to spearhead a 30 billion won ($19.53 million) government program to set up technical standards for ultra-precision digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (dPCR) diagnostics, according to the company, Friday. With 15 institutions participating, the program is a seven-year initiative to secure global leadership in next-generation molecular diagnostics by establishing technical standards for dPCR. Through the program, the government seeks to overcome the core limitations of legacy molecular testing methods and build a critical infrastructure for ultra-precision medicine based on domestic technologies. Along with BioTNS, the consortium includes six companies, two state-backed research institutes and seven university hospitals. Participating companies include Gencurix, Hanil Scientific, JNP Medi and Omicsyn, while GC Labs will support clinical validation and commercialization. The National NanoFab Center and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology will provide technology support. Seven hosp

1d agoBy Nam Hyun-woo
BioTNS selected as host of gov't's ultra-precision digital PCR project
Companies

Doosan on track for growth as portfolio aligns with AI industry

Doosan Group is expected to post strong growth as its key businesses are increasingly aligned with the core supply chain of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. According to market tracker FnGuide, the consensus estimate among brokerages for Doosan Corp.'s second-quarter earnings is 5.5 trillion won ($3.62 billion) in sales and 465 billion won in operating profit, up 3 percent and 30 percent year-on-year, respectively. Doosan Corp. is the holding company of the conglomerate but is gaining market attention with its own electromaterials business, which supplies copper clad laminates (CCL) to chipmakers. CCL is a key material used in advanced chip substrates and printed circuit boards found in virtually all electronic devices. As AI servers and high-performance computing systems require fast processing of massive amounts of data, demand is growing for high-frequency, low-loss CCLs. In the first quarter of this year, the business group’s sales reached 617.3 billion won, growing 53.2 percent year-on-year to set a new record. Operating profit soared 59.9 percent year-on-year to stand a

1d agoBy Nam Hyun-woo
Doosan on track for growth as portfolio aligns with AI industry
Tech & Science

SK hynix ships 12-high HBM4E samples to customers

SK hynix said Thursday it has shipped samples of high-bandwidth memory 4E (HBM4E) for next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) processors to major customers. The company said it delivered 12-high HBM4E samples on schedule, and will work closely with partners for mass production “in a timely manner.” HBM4E is the seventh generation of HBM, a high-performance DRAM designed for rapid data processing and used in graphics processing units (GPUs) and other AI accelerators that require massive computing power. The previous version, HBM4, is set to be used for Nvidia’s Vera Rubin AI supercomputer, which will be released in the third quarter. HBM4E is also expected to be used for Vera Rubin Ultra platform next year. SK hynix said the 12-high HBM4E delivers improvements in both performance and power efficiency. The product offers a maximum data transfer speed of 16 gigabits per second (Gbps) per pin and more than 20 percent higher power efficiency compared to previous models. The HBM4E reduces data transfer latency through its latest interface and design optimization while maintaining sta

2d agoBy Nam Hyun-woo
SK hynix ships 12-high HBM4E samples to customers
Tech & Science

Anthropic opens Seoul office to expand ties with Korean AI ecosystem

U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic opened its Seoul office on Wednesday, as the operator of Claude seeks to expand its ties with Korea’s AI ecosystem. “Korean companies and institutions recognize innovation and safety as goals that must go hand in hand, not a contradicting value,” Anthropic Korea Representative Director Choi Ki-young said during a press conference. “Various organizations in the country are using Claude to create positive changes in the lives of millions of people around the world, and the opening of the Seoul office reflects our commitment to build a long-term foundation for collaboration with those leading Korea’s AI ecosystem.” Choi, who joined Anthropic two weeks ago, is a seasoned expert in Korea’s digital infrastructure industry, having served in leadership roles at Google Cloud, Microsoft Korea, Adobe and Snowflake. Anthropic International Managing Director Chris Ciauri said Anthropic believes its ultimate responsibility is AI safety, aligning the company with the Korean government and its AI Framework Act, a law designed to address risk

2d agoBy Nam Hyun-woo
Anthropic opens Seoul office to expand ties with Korean AI ecosystem
Tech & Science

IITP recognizes domestic AI chip ecosystem growth as Korea's top R&D achievement

The growth of Korea’s domestic artificial intelligence (AI) chip ecosystem is recognized as the country’s top research and development achievement in the field of information technology, the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) said Wednesday. During a media conference, IITP, the policy-planning and management arm of the Ministry of Science and ICT, selected Korean firms’ improved presence in AI computing infrastructure, AI model developments, expanded AI transformation and nurturing researchers as noteworthy policy achievements. "Research and development, along with talent cultivation, are key drivers of Korea's competitiveness in AI and ICT," IITP President Hong Jin-bae said. "We will further strengthen our performance-oriented R&D support system to ensure that the AI and information and communication technology achievements accumulated over the years translate into industrial growth and tangible benefits for people's lives." Since 2020, the government has been making R&D investment worth over 470 billion won ($310.7 million) in the f

Jun 17, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
IITP recognizes domestic AI chip ecosystem growth as Korea's top R&D achievement
Companies

Samsung Display showcases next-generation XR displays at AWE USA

Samsung Display is stepping up its push into the extended reality (XR) market by showcasing its latest RGB OLED on Silicon (OLEDoS) technology at AWE USA 2026 in Long Beach, California. The world's largest XR-focused exhibition opened Tuesday (local time) and will run through Thursday. The company said Wednesday it will present a range of RGB OLEDoS displays for mixed reality (MR) headsets and augmented reality (AR) smart glasses, highlighting the technology's high brightness, color reproduction and suitability for next-generation wearable devices. A centerpiece of the exhibition is a dark-room installation dubbed "The Big Dipper," where seven display panels recreate the constellation. Two of the panels feature Samsung Display's 1.3-inch RGB OLEDoS display capable of reaching 40,000 nits of brightness, allowing visitors to compare its performance with conventional displays. The company is also demonstrating prototype AR smart glasses equipped with a 0.62-inch RGB OLEDoS display. Through AR-based applications, visitors can access functions such as real-time translation, navigation and we

Jun 17, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Display showcases next-generation XR displays at AWE USA
Tech & Science

LG Innotek to co-develop large AI substrate with Big Tech firm

LG Innotek said it is working with a North American Big Tech company to develop large semiconductor substrates for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, with the company expecting "tangible results" by the end of this year. The company announced its substrate business road map during a press conference at its headquarters in western Seoul, Tuesday, noting that it plans to achieve over 1 trillion won ($662.6 million) in annual operating profit from the business by 2031, which is nearly a 10-fold growth compared to last year’s 128.9 billion won. However, it did not disclose the identity of its U.S. partner due to contractual restrictions. During the conference, Cho Ji-tae, head of LG Innotek's Package Solution Business, and Myeong Se-ho, vice president of development for the unit, said the company is developing large flip chip-ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates and is discussing joint development plans with North American customers. "We are now working with North American customers to jointly develop over-100-body FC-BGA," Cho said. "These are customers that have made financial com

Jun 17, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
LG Innotek to co-develop large AI substrate with Big Tech firm
Companies

Prospects of US-Iran deal open door for Korean builders, tech firms

The prospects for a peace deal between the United States and Iran are raising hopes for Korean firms to participate in postwar reconstruction efforts in the Middle Eastern country, with opportunities spanning the construction, energy and consumer electronics sectors. It is said that the Donald Trump administration plans to ease sanctions on Iran and also create a $300 billion investment fund to support the country's economic recovery. Should sanctions be eased, Iran's infrastructure and domestic economy could see renewed growth, creating opportunities for Korean companies to return to a market they once actively served. According to industry officials, major Korean construction companies, energy firms and consumer goods companies are reviewing potential opportunities linked to Iran’s reconstruction. The International Energy Agency said key energy assets had been damaged in more than 40 locations across nine countries, while independent research company Rystad Energy estimated the reconstruction market to be worth as much as $58 billion. Given their extensive track record in the region,

Jun 16, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Prospects of US-Iran deal open door for Korean builders, tech firms
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