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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

Korean conglomerates face pressure over nonbusiness real estate holdings

Korean conglomerates are facing pressure over their holdings of nonbusiness real estate properties, as the Lee Jae Myung administration moves to treat corporate-owned property as part of its restrictive real estate policy framework and review taxation measures. According to data released Wednesday by market tracker Leaders Index, the value of nonbusiness real estate held by 181 companies under Korea’s top 50 business groups stood at 106.28 trillion won ($72.88 billion) as of 2025, up 4.2 percent from 101.95 trillion won a year earlier. The 181 companies were selected from 374 affiliates that disclosed their non-business real estate holdings for two consecutive years from 2024 to 2025. Nonbusiness real estate refers to property that companies do not directly use for production or business operations. Such assets were once subject to heavy taxation, but tax rates were eased in the late 1990s following the Asian financial crisis. Leading the list was Samsung Group, which held properties worth 12.77 trillion won, accounting for 7 percent of the group’s total assets. It was followed by L

May 6, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Korean conglomerates face pressure over nonbusiness real estate holdings
Society

7 universities chosen for new AI education push

The Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday it has selected seven universities from among 10 schools to lead the training of artificial intelligence (AI) talent under a new “AI-focused university” initiative. The selected universities — Gachon University, Korea University, Sogang University, Sungkyunkwan University, Soonchunhyang University, Soongsil University and Yonsei University — will transition from the existing software-centered university program to the new AI-centered model. The initiative aims to upgrade university education systems around AI by leveraging the software education infrastructure already built at participating schools, in response to surging demand for AI talent across industries. Each selected university will receive up to 24 billion won ($17 million) over eight years, or about 3 billion won annually. Under the program, universities are required to establish a presidential-level task force dedicated to AI and AI transformation education, introduce AI convergence bridge courses, provide basic and applied AI education to all students and develop industry-l

May 5, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
7 universities chosen for new AI education push
Companies

Samsung Display, LG Display to showcase next-gen OLED tech in LA

Samsung Display and LG Display will unveil their latest OLED and next-generation display technologies at the Society for Information Display (SID) Display Week 2026, highlighting intensifying competition between Korea’s two display giants in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven display innovation. Hosted by SID, the exhibition will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Tuesday to Thursday (local time). Display Week is one of the world’s largest display industry exhibitions, where global companies and experts gather to present advanced technologies and research achievements. Under the theme “The Spectrum of Display Innovation with AI,” Samsung Display will present new OLED technologies centered on brightness, color accuracy and sensor integration. The company will debut Flex Chroma Pixel, a smartphone OLED capable of reaching 3,000 nits in High Brightness Mode while covering 96 percent of the BT.2020 color space, one of the widest color gamuts used in ultra high-definition and high dynamic range broadcasting. The technology combines phosphorescent sensitized fluores

May 5, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Display, LG Display to showcase next-gen OLED tech in LA
Companies

Samsung union coalition fractures over bonus demands

Samsung Electronics Co. Union (SECU), one of three Samsung Electronics labor unions that had jointly threatened to stage a strike over performance bonuses, has withdrawn from the joint action amid surfacing complaints that the coalition disproportionately serves the semiconductor division — a move that underscores growing rifts between workers in the company’s chip and consumer electronics businesses. According to industry officials, SECU on Monday sent a letter to the coalition expressing its intention to withdraw from joint negotiations for 2026 wage and collective bargaining. “Despite our proposals and requests aimed at protecting the interests of all union members, rather than those in a specific sector, we have received no response from the coalition,” SECU said in the letter. Samsung Electronics has five labor unions and three of which — SECU, Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU) and National Samsung Electronics Union — formed a joint labor alliance for the ongoing wage negotiation. With around 2,300 members, SECU is the third largest among them. Approximately 70 per

May 4, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung union coalition fractures over bonus demands
Tech & Science

Electronic parts firms enjoy rosy outlook on AI supercycle

Electronic parts makers are emerging as key beneficiaries of the chip supercycle driven by a global surge in artificial intelligence (AI), with Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Innotek presenting an upbeat outlook after posting solid first-quarter earnings. On Monday, IBK Securities, Eugene Investment and Meritz Securities raised their target price for Samsung Electro-Mechanics to 1.05 million won ($713), 1.03 million and 1.02 million won, respectively, each setting target prices above 1 million won for the first time. The brokerages each attributed the increased target prices to the company’s robust sales from Flip Chip Ball Grid Array (FC-BGA), a substrate for advanced semiconductors, and Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs), a component that stabilizes power for semiconductors and other electric devices. “As demands are far exceeding the company’s production capacity, discussions are underway with customers to sign long-term supply agreements for both MLCC and FC-BGA substrates,” Eugene Investment analyst Lee Ju-hyung said. Long-term supply agreements in the semiconductor mar

May 4, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Electronic parts firms enjoy rosy outlook on AI supercycle
Tech & Science

Samsung, LG struggle to revive slowing home appliance business

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are scrambling to revive their slowing home appliance businesses, shifting strategies to regain ground lost to Chinese rivals. Samsung Electronics said Monday it has appointed its global chief marketing officer, Lee Won-jin, as the new head of the company's Visual Display (VD) business, which handles TV and other display-related operations. Lee will replace Yong Seok-woo, who has led the business since November 2023. Yong will become an adviser to Roh Tae-moon, head of Samsung’s Device Experience division, which includes VD and mobile device businesses. Lee is a marketing and software service specialist who joined Samsung in 2013 from Google. Before serving as global chief marketing officer, he was credited with successfully establishing Samsung TV Plus, a free ad-supported streaming service, which diversified the company’s device-focused business into a platform-based model. “Drawing on his track record of business success and market insight, he is expected to spearhead business turnarounds and identify new growth areas, thereby further stren

May 4, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung, LG struggle to revive slowing home appliance business
Companies

Coway makes S&P Sustainability Yearbook, Dow Jones Asia Pacific index

Coway has been selected for the 2026 S&P Sustainability Yearbook and included in the Dow Jones Best-in-Class (DJ BIC) Asia Pacific Index, highlighting its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, the company said Monday. The Sustainability Yearbook, published annually by S&P Global, evaluates companies worldwide through its Corporate Sustainability Assessment, which measures financial performance alongside ESG practices. More than 9,200 companies across 59 industries were assessed this year, with 848 selected for inclusion. Coway was recognized for the second consecutive year, ranking in the top 15 percent of the household durables industry. The company was also included in the DJ BIC Asia Pacific Index for the 13th straight year, placing it among the top 20 percent of about 600 companies in the region. Coway said its scores improved in areas such as energy and waste management, biodiversity conservation, occupational health and safety, and data protection. Since establishing an ESG committee in 2021, Coway has expanded its sustainability strategy around three pillars: car

May 4, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Coway makes S&P Sustainability Yearbook, Dow Jones Asia Pacific index
Companies

Samsung software academy graduates share career growth journeys

Samsung Software and Artificial Intelligence Academy for Youth (SSAFY) said Thursday it has published a collection of essays featuring graduates’ career growth journeys. The book is based on an essay contest held in August and September last year for about 6,000 SSAFY graduates from the program’s first eight cohorts and their families. Selected stories were compiled and published under the title, “The Era of AI Transformation, The Beginning of Junior Talent: SSAFY.” The essays share how graduates overcame barriers such as academic background and age to become software and artificial intelligence (AI) professionals, helping provide practical support for unemployed young people, SSAFY said. One of the noteworthy stories includes Kim Jung-hwan, one of the earliest graduates of SSAFY and founder of Japanese IT firm Joint Tactics & Strategy Laboratory (JTSL). In his essay, he recalls discovering an inefficient system at his first job that took about 20 minutes to update data for 1,000 customers, and shortening the process to just 20 seconds by restructuring the code using software alg

Apr 30, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung software academy graduates share career growth journeys
Companies

Why Samsung labor unions’ strike plan means more than corporate dispute for Korea

The global tech industry is paying close attention to Samsung Electronics labor unions’ threat to launch a strike on May 21 unless the company removes a cap on performance-based bonuses. Beyond the potential losses that the strike could inflict on Samsung — estimated at around 1 trillion won ($680 million) a day — and possible disruptions in the memory chip supply chain worldwide, the threat poses a broader test for Korea: It raises questions over how exceptional corporate gains should be shared, what precedent the dispute could leave behind and how public sentiment and political interests may shape that outcome. Another point making this strike threat notable is the limited support it has drawn. Even considering that the union leading the dispute among the company's five unions — Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU) — is not affiliated with either of Korea’s two umbrella labor groups, politicians and civic groups have largely refrained from voicing solidarity. Even the labor-friendly Lee Jae Myung administration has signaled opposition to the potential strike, indicating

Apr 30, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Why Samsung labor unions’ strike plan means more than corporate dispute for Korea
Companies

Samsung Electronics posts record $38.5 bil. Q1 operating profit on AI chip boom

Samsung Electronics reported 57.23 trillion won ($38.55 billion) in operating profit and 133.87 trillion won in sales for the first quarter of the year, driven by strong demand for memory chips amid the global expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The company said Thursday in a regulatory filing that both figures marked sharp year-on-year increases of 69.16 percent and 756.1 percent, respectively, setting new quarterly records. Among its business divisions, Device Solutions alone reported 81.7 trillion won in sales and 53.7 trillion won in operating profit. The company attributed the robust numbers to its memory business, which is enjoying a supercycle due to strong demand for high-value-added AI products. In the first quarter, the company became the industry’s first to mass-produce and ship high-bandwidth memory 4 (HBM4) and next-generation low-power memory module Small Outline Compression Attached Memory Module 2 (SOCAMM2), adding to solid gains from rising prices for legacy DRAM products. During an earnings call, the company said the average selling prices of DRA

Apr 30, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Electronics posts record $38.5 bil. Q1 operating profit on AI chip boom
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