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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

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
Companies

CJ CheilJedang to roll out land-grown Korean seaweed

CJ CheilJedang will roll out land-grown Korean seaweed through a new commercialization facility, as the company looks to capitalize on growing global demand for Korean seaweed while responding to rising seawater temperatures and other climate change-driven disruptions. The company said Monday it will establish the land-based farming facility in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, in August. The move marks a commercialization stage following the company's development of Korea’s first seaweed land farming technology in 2018, successfully cultivating seaweed in a 3-ton tank in 2021 and securing a dedicated seaweed variety in 2022. The facility is scheduled for completion in the first half of next year, and seaweed products produced there will be marketed under the Bibigo Seaweed brand. To support the project, CJ CheilJedang will establish cooperation programs with local governments and fishing communities. The facility will be equipped with multiple tanks and cultivation systems. Based on its proprietary seaweed variety, seaweed life cycle control technology and integrated quality manage

Jun 15, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
CJ CheilJedang to roll out land-grown Korean seaweed
Companies

LG Energy Solution courts battery experts in Chicago

LG Energy Solution said Monday it held a conference in Chicago to share its future vision and attract battery technology experts. The company hosted more than 40 researchers from leading U.S. universities and institutions at the Battery Tech Conference in Chicago on Saturday. The event served as both a technology showcase and a recruitment program, featuring LG Energy Solution CEO Kim Dong-myung and other senior executives. "Today, batteries are no longer just a product. They have become critical infrastructure powering virtually every aspect of the global energy ecosystem," Kim said in his opening remarks. "We organized this event to meet talented individuals who will help shape the future of the energy industry alongside us." Participants included master's and doctoral students, as well as researchers, from leading U.S. universities and research institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. They represented a diverse range of disciplines, including en

Jun 15, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
LG Energy Solution courts battery experts in Chicago
Tech & Science

Ban on foreign access to Anthropic models highlights need for AI sovereignty

Anthropic's ban of foreign nationals' access to its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models in response to a U.S. government order highlights how cutting-edge AI tools have effectively become strategic assets subject to government export controls, experts said Sunday. With the Korean government and firms restricted from accessing those models, the move has reinforced calls for Korea to hedge against such risks through a more strategic approach and by strengthening its AI sovereignty. Anthropic on Friday cut off foreign access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, saying the U.S. government believes there is a method of bypassing a safeguard against using the model to find cybersecurity holes. Mythos 5 is Anthropic's security-focused model designed to identify software vulnerabilities at an expert level, while Fable 5 is a safety-tuned version developed for broader public deployment. The latest restrictions were imposed in the form of a U.S. export control measure, according to Anthropic. News website Semafor reported that the move was prompted by concerns that a China-linked grou

Jun 14, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Ban on foreign access to Anthropic models highlights need for AI sovereignty
Companies

SK chairman calls for full-fledged AI transformation

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won urged executives and employees to pursue full-fledged efforts toward artificial intelligence (AI) transformation in order to seize the current opportunity stemming from the strong alignment between the group’s business portfolio and the AI value chain, the conglomerate said Sunday. Chey made the remarks during the 2026 Icheon Forum, an annual seminar attended by SK employees and outside experts, held from Thursday through Saturday. “Now is the time to launch our AI transformation effort at full speed across every corner of our businesses,” Chey said. “For this, we must first have to clearly define our business and determine what and how we can innovate through AI.” He stressed the importance of AI transformation in improving SK Group’s operation capability, urging the use of AI agents across the organization. “More than 90 percent of our employees are already using AI, but we now need AI that goes beyond individual use and genuinely helps the team by turning those efforts into organizationwide performance," he said. Chey said SK Group is now wi

Jun 14, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SK chairman calls for full-fledged AI transformation
Companies

PHOTO Congressional Baseball Game for Charity in US

Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Chairman Ryu Jin, on screen, delivers opening remarks at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., Wednesday (local time). FKI participated in the game as a sponsor and sent a delegation of executives from major Korean investors in the United States, including Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group, LG, POSCO Group, HD Hyundai, LS and KBI Group. Courtesy of FKI

Jun 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woophoto
[PHOTO] Congressional Baseball Game for Charity in US
Companies

SK to build AI data center in Japan amid gov’t push for domestic investment

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won's recent moves in Japan have raised fresh questions about whether the group's investment strategy runs counter to the government's push for major technology firms to expand investment in Korea's regional economies. In an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun published on Thursday, Chey said SK is planning to build an artificial intelligence (AI) factory in Japan “in a timeline between 2028 and 2029.” He also said SK hynix could review plans to establish overseas production bases if additional memory fabrication capacity is required in the future. Describing Japan as “a very strong candidate,” Chey noted that the country has a well-established semiconductor ecosystem with a high concentration of equipment and materials companies. The remarks came at a time when the Lee Jae Myung administration is intensifying efforts to attract major technology investments to regional areas, particularly the Honam region — encompassing Gwangju and the South and North Jeolla provinces — a traditional stronghold of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). A da

Jun 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SK to build AI data center in Japan amid gov’t push for domestic investment
Tech & Science

Samsung Electronics to introduce ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude in operations

Samsung Electronics will introduce the world's top three generative artificial intelligence (AI) services across its operations as the company seeks to accelerate AI transformation beyond relying solely on in-house AI models and services. The company said Thursday its appliance-making Device Experience (DX) Division will officially allow employees to use ChatGPT, Gemini Enterprise and Claude across their operations from Friday. Samsung Electronics said it decided to introduce the AI services to give employees greater flexibility in selecting tools best suited to their work, rather than limiting them to a specific platform. It added that the move is aimed at accelerating AI transformation by creating an environment in which all employees can leverage the most effective tools. “This is not simply about introducing AI as a workplace tool. It marks the starting point for fundamentally transforming the way we work and execute,” Samsung Electronics co-CEO and Head of DX Division Roh Tae-moon said. "By strengthening execution capabilities across the organization, we aim to elevate the DX D

Jun 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Electronics to introduce ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude in operations
Tech & Science

SES AI eyes robotics boom with 'vibe research' tool for battery materials

The battery industry is bracing for a paradigm shift as the rise of physical artificial intelligence (AI) boosts demand beyond traditional applications such as electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESS) to include drones, humanoid robots and other robotic systems. The transition forces battery makers to invest more heavily in developing new materials and capabilities for delivering the power output, safety and durability required for next-generation robotics. SES AI, a Boston-based battery firm, believes “vibe research” will be at the center of this new paradigm. The AI-driven approach allows researchers to guide and orchestrate materials discovery through simple prompts, dramatically shortening battery development cycles “from years to weeks” while reducing research costs through the company’s Molecular Universe platform. During an interview with The Korea Times, SES AI founder and CEO Qichao Hu emphasized that the race to produce humanoid robot batteries will be about how quickly companies can discover and commercialize new materials, as humanoid robots are exp

Jun 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SES AI eyes robotics boom with 'vibe research' tool for battery materials
Companies

KEF chairman urges cooperative labor relations in AI transformation at ILO

Korea Enterprises Federation Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik urged cooperative relations between labor and management in businesses’ artificial intelligence (AI) transformation during his speech at the 114th Session of the International Labour Conference hosted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva Wednesday. Sohn attended the ILO session in Geneva as Korea’s representative of employers. Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon and Federation of Korean Trade Unions President Kim Dong-myeong also participated as representatives of the government and labor, respectively. Sohn said AI is driving a profound transformation of socioeconomic structures and the way people live and work, stressing the need to create an environment that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation. "Every country must swiftly reform outdated laws and institutions that no longer fit the demands of the times," he said. "In Korea's case, it is urgent to make labor market regulations, such as strong protections for regular workers and a standardized working-hour system, more flexible." Sohn noted tha

Jun 10, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
KEF chairman urges cooperative labor relations in AI transformation at ILO
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.