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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

Samsung SDS faces collective bargaining demands from fledgling union

Samsung SDS is facing growing pressure to improve its incentive system, as its labor union secured majority support just a day after its launch and demanded collective bargaining with management. According to the company on Wednesday, it has decided to scrap a proposed revision to its incentive system, as support for the plan reached only about 40 percent in an employee vote. The company had held the vote from June 24 through Tuesday, seeking approval from at least half of its employees to replace its existing cash-based “target achievement incentive” with treasury shares worth up to 20 percent of annual salary. However, the proposal faced employee opposition, ultimately prompting workers to establish the company's first labor union. The union, the Samsung Group United Union Samsung SDS Chapter, was officially launched on Monday and secured more than 5,500 memberships the following day, surpassing half of the company's workforce of about 11,000. Membership rose to around 5,800 on Tuesday night before easing to 5,686 as of Wednesday morning. The union on Tuesday requested collective b

Jul 8, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung SDS faces collective bargaining demands from fledgling union
Companies

Gov't rush on new nuclear power plants for chip cluster unrealistic

The government's plan to build a massive semiconductor cluster in southwestern Korea to house chip plants for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix is facing growing questions over whether sufficient power can be secured. The Lee Jae Myung government is increasingly moving away from its initial policy stance of maintaining the status quo on nuclear power, acknowledging that renewable energy alone cannot meet the project's electricity needs and arguing that additional nuclear power plants are needed. The challenge is that building nuclear power plants is as complicated and time-consuming as constructing semiconductor fabs. New reactors must clear environmental assessments and address potential opposition from local residents near transmission grids and other facilities, making it uncertain whether additional power generation is possible before the current memory chip upcycle fades or before Lee's term ends. According to government officials, the government is considering building four additional nuclear reactors. Earlier this month, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Kim Sung-hwan sa

Jul 8, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Gov't rush on new nuclear power plants for chip cluster unrealistic
Tech & Science

Nanomedicine pioneer Cheon Jin-woo named Korea’s top scientist of 2026

Cheon Jin-woo, a professor at Yonsei University widely regarded as Korea's pioneer in nanomedicine, has been named the winner of the 2026 Top Scientist and Technologist Award of Korea, the nation's highest honor for scientists and engineers. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies announced Monday that Cheon, a distinguished professor and founding director of the Institute for Basic Science Center for Nanomedicine at the university, was selected as this year’s award winner. Cheon was recognized for pioneering the field of nanomedicine by integrating nanochemistry with biotechnology to develop novel medical approaches for disease diagnosis, cell therapy and neural circuit modulation. Nanomedicine is increasingly being applied beyond disease diagnosis and drug delivery, with researchers exploring its potential in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and other areas of neuroscience. Cheon developed magnetogenetics technologies to demonstrate that the neuronal activity of living animals can be wirelessly and remotely controlled using magneti

Jul 6, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Nanomedicine pioneer Cheon Jin-woo named Korea’s top scientist of 2026
Tech & Science

New KT CEO vows $12 bil. investment for transition to AI platform company

New KT CEO Park Yoon-young pledged Monday to invest 18 trillion won ($11.77 billion) into network security and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, as part of his plan to rebrand the telecom operator as an AI transformation platform company. Park said KT seeks to become an AI transformation platform company built on two core business pillars: its telecommunications business and AI business, which includes data centers, cable and AI transformation services. “The network business is our foundation, and we have to make that foundation stronger so we can build the company's next stage of growth through AI transformation," Park said during a press conference in Seoul, his first since taking office in March. “Our vision is built on two pillars: reinforcing our core business while driving the company's next phase of growth through AI transformation. To strengthen its telecommunications business, KT plans to invest 12 trillion won over the next three years in information security, IT and network infrastructure. As part of the investment, 4 trillion won will be allocated to information

Jul 6, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
New KT CEO vows $12 bil. investment for transition to AI platform company
Companies

Drought risk missing in water supply plan for new chip cluster

The government has come up with a plan to supply industrial water to semiconductor plants that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have committed to build in Korea's southwestern region, but questions remain over the lack of clear principles on how water should be prioritized in the event of shortages during droughts. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced on Tuesday the plan to supply 650,000 tons of industrial water per day to the proposed chip cluster by adjusting water allocations from nearby dams. The plan came in response to concerns raised by semiconductor companies and opposition parties that the region is vulnerable to water shortages. Citing this risk, the opposition bloc has argued that the government-led 800 trillion-won chip cluster plan is seeking to attract new semiconductor plants to an unsuitable area. Under the plan, the government will secure 350,000 tons of water per day by combining the existing 50,000 tons of surplus capacity at Juam Dam with an additional 300,000 tons obtained by increasing the storage capacity of Dongbok Dam. It also seeks to secur

Jul 3, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Drought risk missing in water supply plan for new chip cluster
Companies

Celltrion Q2 operating profit jumps 77% to $278 mil.

Celltrion said Friday its second-quarter operating profit increased 77 percent year-on-year to 430 billion won ($278.14 million), driven by a higher share of new high-margin products and an improved cost structure. In its regulatory filing, the biopharmaceutical company reported 1.3 trillion won in sales and 430 billion won in operating profit for the second quarter, both record highs for the April-June period. Sales increased 35.2 percent from a year earlier. It said the numbers also exceeded a previously announced second-quarter operating profit target of 400 billion won, reinforcing confidence in its ability to deliver on its full-year business plan. During the second quarter, sales of the company's newer products, including Remsima SC, Yuflyma and Steqeyma, continued to grow across major global markets, with the new products accounting for more than 60 percent of total sales. Celltrion also said it is seeking regulatory approvals in Korea and North America for CT-P55, a biosimilar referencing Cosentyx for autoimmune diseases. It is also pursuing approvals in major markets for Herzuma

Jul 3, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Celltrion Q2 operating profit jumps 77% to $278 mil.
Tech & Science

Tech leaders showcase technology at Quantum Korea 2026

Leading technology companies and institutions showcased their latest quantum technology developments at Quantum Korea 2026, which opened on Thursday, as the government seeks to position Korea as a global leader in quantum technology through various policy initiatives. Hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT since 2023, Quantum Korea will run through Saturday. This year’s edition focuses on how quantum technologies are being implemented and used in actual settings. A total of 56 companies and research organizations from 12 countries, including SK Telecom and KT, participated in the event, displaying quantum computer models and showcasing technologies that use quantum-based encryption and other security solutions. The telecom companies focused on quantum security solutions, as advances in quantum computing are expected to increase the risk of existing encryption systems being compromised. The key concept in their exhibitions was quantum key distribution (QKD) technology. QKD sends encryption keys using the quantum states of photons. Because observing a photon changes its quantum state,

Jul 2, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Tech leaders showcase technology at Quantum Korea 2026
Tech & Science

Consumer preference for flagship devices gives advantage for LG Display

The growing consumer preference for flagship devices is giving LG Display a relative edge, as its focus on OLED displays across smartphones and other consumer electronics has left the company well positioned to benefit from the trend. According to industry officials, Thursday, the display industry is facing mounting cost pressure as surging memory prices are forcing device makers to keep their bill of materials (BOM) costs under control by demanding price concessions from other component suppliers. Market tracker TrendForce said in a recent report that memory prices for smartphones surged by up to 200 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, raising memory’s share of total smartphone BOM costs to 30 to 40 percent from the previous 10 to 15 percent. While rising memory costs have driven up the prices of a wide range of consumer electronics and are set to put pressure on smartphones as well, demand for premium products has remained relatively resilient. According to Omdia, Samsung Electronics and Apple ranked first and second, respectively, in global smartphone shipments in the first q

Jul 2, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Consumer preference for flagship devices gives advantage for LG Display
Tech & Science

SK hynix finishes filing for US depositary share offering

SK hynix has finished filing its registration statement for listing American Depositary Shares (ADS) on the Nasdaq market Tuesday (local time), after adding its litigation risks into the statement. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company completed its ADS listing process by filing the statement with the SEC. The statement reflected a June 24 board decision to issue up to 17.79 million common shares, which is about 2.5 percent of its outstanding common shares, for the ADS listing. The statement left blank both the offering price, volume and the number of ADSs representing one common share, but the company said in its board decision that it seeks to have 10 ADSs represent one common share, meaning the Nasdaq listing could raise up to $29.4 billion if the ADSs are priced in line with the company's current share price. Compared to the previous version, the latest statement revised its Risk Factors section to add an antitrust class action lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on June 25 by 14 U.S. consumers and t

Jul 1, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SK hynix finishes filing for US depositary share offering
Tech & Science

PHOTO Celebrating 40th anniv.

Merck Korea Managing Director Kim Woo-kyu, fourth from left, cuts cake to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the company's Ansan production site during a ceremony at the plant in Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. The company said Wednesday the company has been making industrial contributions through semiconductor facility construction and other projects, and has engaged in various volunteer efforts for social contribution during its history. Starting second from left are Merck Electronics Global Head of Equipment Cluster Rob Mortensen, Ansan City Vice Mayor Heo Nam-seok, Kim and Ansan Site Director Kim Sang-yup. Courtesy of Merck Korea

Jul 1, 2026By Nam Hyun-woophoto
[PHOTO] Celebrating 40th anniv.
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