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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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Tech & Science

KAIST study flags 24,000 online accounts suspected of foreign-linked influence

A research team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has identified about 24,000 foreign-linked accounts exhibiting behavior consistent with coordinated manipulation aimed at fueling political divisions on Korea’s largest news portal. The researchers developed a tool using artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can flag suspicious online accounts, and also explain the basis for its assessments. The accounts did not focus on a particular political party or ideology, but instead posted messages targeting both conservative and liberal politicians, including former and incumbent presidents, in ways that could amplify divisions and confrontation, raising suspicions of links to foreign influence operations. The team, led by professors Lee Won-jae, Cha Mee-young and Oh Hae-yun, will present their research, titled “Cross-National Information Attacks: A Two-Decade Analysis of Troll Behavior in Korea,” at USENIX Security Symposium 2026 on Thursday, according to KAIST. The research was co-authored by doctoral student Kim Jae-hong and master’s student Kim

Aug 12, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
KAIST study flags 24,000 online accounts suspected of foreign-linked influence
Companies

SK hynix faces dilemma as de facto largest Kioxia shareholder

SK hynix has become the de facto largest shareholder in Kioxia, the world’s third-largest NAND flash maker, but uncertainty remains over whether it can participate in the Japanese company’s management, leaving the Korean chipmaker with a valuable yet complicated strategic position. Kioxia said in a regulatory filing on Monday that BCPE Pangea Cayman2 (SPC2) is now its largest stakeholder. SPC2 is a special purpose company established by United States private equity Bain Capital and invested by SK hynix. Toshiba was previously Kioxia’s largest shareholder, but its stake fell to 14.12 percent from 14.48 percent as of July 31 after the Japanese company sold shares in the market last month. With SPC2 maintaining its 14.19 percent stake, it became Kioxia’s largest shareholder. SPC2 was established by Bain Capital, but it effectively serves as an investment vehicle solely for SK hynix. In 2018, the Korean chipmaker invested about 3.9 trillion won ($2.75 billion) through two Bain Capital SPCs — 2.63 trillion won in SPC1, an equity investment vehicle, and 1.3 trillion won through SPC2

Aug 12, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SK hynix faces dilemma as de facto largest Kioxia shareholder
Companies

NC posts solid Q2 earnings, overseas sales surpass domestic

Game developer NC posted solid earnings figures for the second quarter of this year, driven by strong overseas revenue which surpassed domestic sales. During its earnings call on Tuesday, NC announced 770.5 billion won ($543.6 million) in sales and 173.9 billion won in operating profit for the April-June period. The figures represented year-on-year increases of 101 percent and 1,053 percent, respectively, with the company posting an operating margin of 23 percent. Of notice was its strong overseas sales. By region, Korea accounted for 48 percent of revenue, Asia for 25 percent and North America, Europe and other regions for 27 percent. With overseas markets accounting for 52 percent of total revenue, overseas revenue has exceeded domestic revenue for four consecutive quarters. One notable contributor to the growth was its mobile casual game segment, which posted 169.7 billion won in sales after JustPlay, the German mobile casual game platform NC acquired in March, was consolidated into its earnings for the first time. “Our mobile casual game business is a new growth driver, and was ful

Aug 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
NC posts solid Q2 earnings, overseas sales surpass domestic
Tech & Science

Google surpasses Naver in monthly active users in Korea for 1st time

Google has surpassed Naver in the number of monthly active users (MAU) in Korea for the first time, signaling that artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping one of the few markets in the world where a homegrown portal has long maintained its lead over the U.S. tech giant. According to domestic market tracker Mobile Index, the Google app recorded 47.02 million MAU last month, ranking first in the productivity app category. The figure was 177,837 higher than Naver’s 46.84 million. It marked the first time Google overtook Naver in MAU since Mobile Index began tracking relevant data in March 2021. Google’s MAU in Korea surpassed 40 million for the first time in May last year and topped 46 million in May this year. On the other hand, Naver’s monthly user count remained in the 43 million to 46 million range from January 2023 through last month. Industry officials attribute Google’s rise to the growing convergence of search and generative AI, which is diversifying the ways users seek and consume information. Both Naver and Google operate AI-powered search services that display AI-generat

Aug 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Google surpasses Naver in monthly active users in Korea for 1st time
Companies

SK Bioscience narrows loss in Q2 upon German unit's improvement

Vaccine specialist SK Bioscience narrowed its operating loss in the second quarter while expanding its global business and vaccine pipeline to facilitate future growth. The company said in a regulatory filing Monday that its revenue stood at 155.7 billion won ($110 million) in the April-June period, down 3.8 percent from a year earlier. Its operating loss narrowed to 15.7 billion won from 37.4 billion won during the same period. The company attributed the slight decline in second-quarter revenue to a temporary delay in the supply schedule for some of its vaccines. As the shipments pushed back to the third quarter, the entire delayed volume is expected to be reflected in third-quarter results, limiting the impact on its full-year performance. The company said its profitability improvement was largely driven by IDT Biologika, a German contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that SK Bioscience acquired in 2024. IDT Biologika improved its earnings as production volumes increased for major clients, while costs declined through workforce optimization and higher production yi

Aug 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SK Bioscience narrows loss in Q2 upon German unit's improvement
Companies

Korean chipmakers face growing calls to improve shareholder returns

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are facing growing expectations of sizable shareholder return policies, as investors increasingly call for measures that could provide fresh momentum for their share prices. Samsung Electronics shares closed at 231,000 won ($163.20) on Aug. 7, down about 36.3 percent from their peak closing price of 362,500 won on June 18. SK hynix shares ended at 1.422 million won on Aug. 7, down about 51.3 percent from their peak closing price of 2.919 million won on June 22. The selloff that continued through last month has eased, but the shares have since moved sideways, trading in a relatively narrow range. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix closed at 230,000 won and 1.42 million won respectively on Monday, down 0.43 percent and 0.14 percent from a session earlier. Since the two chipmakers have already posted record second-quarter earnings, investors are looking for fresh momentum to drive gains in the companies’ share prices. Analysts say the large-scale shareholder return plans, expected as early as this month, could provide a boost. KB Securities analyst Kim Dong-

Aug 10, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Korean chipmakers face growing calls to improve shareholder returns
Tech & Science

LX Semicon supplies automotive semiconductor to Hyundai, Kia

LX Semicon has begun supplying its first automotive microcontroller unit (MCU) to Hyundai Motor and Kia, marking the first tangible achievement of its automotive semiconductor business. The company said Monday that it has begun mass production of the LX61101, an MCU optimized for motor control in automotive body electronics. The chips will initially be used in Hyundai Motor and Kia vehicles that will go into production in the second half of this year, with applications set to gradually expand to a wider range of models. Based on a 40-megahertz Arm Cortex-M3 core, the chip enables stable and precise motor control by monitoring speed, position, rotational direction and torque in real time. The chip will be used in vehicle window safety systems, which automatically reverse direction when an object is detected while a window is closing, as well as in systems that control vehicle aerodynamics. LX Semicon said the chip marks the company’s first tangible achievement in its automotive MCU business, a new growth area it has been fostering since 2022 to diversify its portfolio beyond display-rel

Aug 10, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
LX Semicon supplies automotive semiconductor to Hyundai, Kia
Tech & Science

Goheung, Jeju vying to host Korea's 2nd space center

Two regions are vying to host Korea’s planned second space center, which will be capable of launching and landing reusable launch vehicles, with the host region to be announced in October, the country’s space authority said Sunday. According to the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City (formerly South Jeolla Province and Gwangju) and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province have applied for the open bidding for the country's second space center. KASA did not specify exact sites for the space center, but South Jeolla Province has been promoting Goheung County as a candidate region, while Jeju has reportedly proposed using a floating launch facility in waters off the city of Seogwipo on the island. The second space center is designed to support more than 10 reusable launch vehicle operations annually from the mid- to late 2030s. The government aims to establish launch, landing and maintenance facilities for reusable launch vehicles on a site covering about 5.62 million square meters by 2034. Korea currently mostly relies on the Naro Space Center i

Aug 9, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Goheung, Jeju vying to host Korea's 2nd space center
Companies

Profit-linked bonuses at Samsung, SK unlikely to spread across Korean biz

The hefty profit-based performance bonuses at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are unlikely to become a new norm among Korean businesses, as the government considers amending regulations to subject such bonus plans to shareholder approval. Speaking at a press forum on Thursday, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said he “opposes linking employee incentives directly to a company’s operating profit,” and that the government is discussing revisions to the Commercial Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act that would require companies to secure shareholder approval before paying such performance bonuses. The comment came as a growing number of labor unions at large companies have been demanding that a portion of operating profit be used to fund performance bonuses. Last year, SK hynix agreed with its labor union to allocate 10 percent of operating profit for performance bonuses to share the massive profits generated from its memory chip business. In May, Samsung Electronics reached a similar agreement to allocate 10.5 percent of operating profit to performance b

Aug 9, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Profit-linked bonuses at Samsung, SK unlikely to spread across Korean biz
Tech & Science

US scrutiny of foreign robots, parts likely to benefit Korean makers

The United States’ heightened scrutiny of Chinese robots is expected to create a more favorable competitive landscape for Korean component makers such as LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, according to analysts and industry officials, Thursday. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 28 added foreign power inverters and advanced robotic devices to its covered list as they “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the U.S.” Under the new rules, new foreign-produced advanced robotic devices and power inverters are “generally prohibited” from receiving FCC authorization for import into the U.S. However, the FCC said producers that receive Conditional Approval from the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security can continue to receive FCC authorizations. The regulation did not directly refer to China, but it is widely seen as effectively targeting the country, as the U.S. has been seeking to contain China’s growing dominance of global supply chains for advanced robotics. The move is expected to have a particular impact on the m

Aug 6, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
US scrutiny of foreign robots, parts likely to benefit Korean makers
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