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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

SK hynix unions agree to receive half of bonuses in cash, half in shares

SK hynix’s production workers’ unions on Wednesday approved a revised tentative agreement reached between their representatives and management, under which employees will receive half of their performance bonuses in cash and the other half in company shares, concluding this year’s wage and collective bargaining negotiations without a labor dispute. According to SK hynix, the two production workers’ unions at the company approved the tentative agreement with a 57.08 percent vote in support. More than 15,000 of the unions’ 16,000 eligible members took part in the vote. The two unions respectively represent production workers at the company’s Icheon plant in Gyeonggi Province and Cheongju plant in North Chungcheong Province. A key feature of the agreement is that half of the performance bonuses, known as excess profit-sharing, will be paid in cash, while the other half will be paid in the form of treasury shares. The revised agreement replaces an earlier tentative deal that called for 60 percent of the bonuses to be paid in treasury shares and the remainder in cash, which the t

Sep 16, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SK hynix unions agree to receive half of bonuses in cash, half in shares
Education

CONFERENCE Universities must rethink curricula instead of restricting students' use of AI, professor says

Choi Jae-boong, professor of interdisciplinary AI service design at Sungkyunkwan University, said education in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) should focus on cultivating humanity, while universities should move away from simply trying to restrict students’ use of AI and instead rethink how their curricula are designed. Choi shared such visions during his keynote speech at the 2026 Korea Times Global Conference at Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in Seoul, Tuesday. Under the theme of “Beyond AI: building human-centered leadership for the next era,” he stressed that AI innovation is an inevitable future and that both leadership and education must undergo a fundamental shift to prepare for it. “Many Big Tech companies carried out layoffs over the past several years, but when I looked at their headcounts again earlier this year, they had increased because the companies were hiring more AI talent,” Choi said. “However, the focus of Korean universities last year and even this year was how to prevent students from using AI to do their assignments. Almost no

Sep 15, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
[CONFERENCE] Universities must rethink curricula instead of restricting students' use of AI, professor says
Companies

LG AI Research seeks to address industrial challenges with 'expert' AI models

LG AI Research, an artificial intelligence (AI) institute of LG Group, has unveiled “expert” AI models based on its EXAONE large language model, which are already delivering tangible results by addressing practical challenges encountered in real world industrial environments. The models were unveiled during LG AI Talk Concert 2026, held by LG AI Research to introduce use cases of its expert AI models, each specialized in manufacturing, science and finance. “Building a good AI model is important, but LG AI Research’s mission is to solve difficult problems that industries have struggled with for years,” LG AI Research co-head Lim Woo-hyung said during his keynote speech. “There are already many general-purpose AI models in the world that generate excellent answers. But solving problems in industrial settings requires AI that can understand numerous variables, even the 1 percent of exceptional cases. AI can prove its value in industry only when it can demonstrate tangible results.” As part of that approach, LG AI Research unveiled EXAONE Tabular and EXAONE Omni-Inspect. Tabular

Sep 14, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
LG AI Research seeks to address industrial challenges with 'expert' AI models
Companies

Michigan governor courts Korean businesses' investments

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday called on Korean businesses to invest in advanced technologies in the U.S. state. She made the call during a business luncheon hosted by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), where Whitmer, KITA Chairman Yoon Jin-sik and representatives from the Korea-U.S. Economic Council, Samsung SDI, LG Energy Solution, Hansae Mobility and other companies operating or considering investments in Michigan discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation. The Michigan delegation included Whitmer, Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) CEO Quentin Messer Jr. and other officials. “Michigan is ready to work with Korean companies to develop next-generation technologies, backed by our highly skilled workforce, advanced manufacturing capabilities and strong supply chains,” Whitmer was quoted as saying. “Building on the decades long partnership between Michigan and Korea, we look forward to work with Korean companies to open new opportunities in future industries.” Whitmer has led efforts to revive Michigan’s auto industry and attract investmen

Sep 14, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Michigan governor courts Korean businesses' investments
Companies

Owner's property division to change Smilegate's governance

The ruling on Smilegate founder and chief vision officer Kwon Hyuk-bin’s divorce settlement is expected to bring changes to the company’s governance structure, which is currently based on Kwon’s full ownership. The Seoul Family Court on Wednesday ordered Kwon to transfer a 35 percent stake in the company to his wife, surnamed Lee, as part of property division. Although the two sides can appeal and the size of the stake could change, it is highly likely to alter the ownership structure Kwon has maintained since 2012. Smilegate had previously consisted of several separate entities, including Smilegate Holdings, Smilegate Entertainment which operates CrossFire, and Smilegate RPG, which operates Lost Ark. Earlier this year, however, the group merged the entities into a simpler structure fully owned by Kwon. Without public explanation on why he maintains full ownership, the structure has drawn both positive and negative assessments. On the positive side, it is seen as a strategy to operate the company independently without disputes among shareholders or pressure from outside investors s

Sep 13, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Owner's property division to change Smilegate's governance
Companies

Smilegate founder's divorce suit draws attention to game empire built in silence

A Seoul court's ruling Wednesday on the divorce of Kwon Hyuk-bin, Smilegate’s founder and chief vision officer, drew major attention as it involved a record property division payout in Korea — an order for him to pay 2.55 trillion won ($1.91 billion) to his wife. Despite the record settlement amount and the company's megahit first-person shooter game CrossFire, little is known about Kwon, as he rarely makes public appearances, except for charity events. Smilegate, Korea’s fifth-largest game company by sales, is unlisted and wholly owned by Kwon, often called a game empire built in silence. Though Kwon maintains absolute control over the company, the court found that Smilegate’s founding and growth were not solely attributable to him. The bulk of the payout order is made up of Kwon’s 35 percent stake in the game company, worth 2.49 trillion won, and 65 billion won in cash, meaning the court recognized his wife’s contributions to building the company’s value. From ashes to empire Kwon is regarded as one of the Korean game industry’s early-generation entrepreneurs. Now 52, h

Sep 13, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Smilegate founder's divorce suit draws attention to game empire built in silence
Companies

HD Hyundai Heavy to bet $747 mil. in power-generation engine, SMR

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will invest 1 trillion won ($746.7 million) in land-based power generation engines and small modular reactors (SMRs) to strengthen its presence in the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure market. The company said in a regulatory filing Thursday that it will invest 1.07 trillion won to build a new production base for power generation engines and a dedicated manufacturing facility for SMRs. Of that amount, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will invest 833.6 billion won to build a new production base for its HiMSEN engines in Ulsan, with an annual production capacity of 3 gigawatts. The new production base will occupy a 215,000 square meter site and will include an engine assembly and testing plant, a crankshaft machining plant and other production facilities. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year, with completion slated for May 2028. When completed, HD Hyundai expects to it will secure 4 gigawatts of annual production capacity for land-based power generation engines. The new plant and HD Hyundai Engine in Yeongam, Jeonnam-Gwangju

Sep 10, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
HD Hyundai Heavy to bet $747 mil. in power-generation engine, SMR
Companies

POSCO renovates 8 special education classrooms under CSR program

POSCO remodeled eight special education classrooms at elementary schools in three regions where the company has business operations, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, Classrooms Growing Together. According to the steelmaker, Thursday, it remodeled special education classrooms at six elementary schools in Seoul, one in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and another in Gwangyang, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City. The CSR program targeted public elementary schools operating special education classrooms in the cities where POSCO has business operations. After accepting applications in April, POSCO selected the schools through on-site reviews in May and June and interviews with special education teachers. The evaluation considered factors including the age of school buildings, the number of students receiving special education and other relevant conditions. During the renovation, POSCO reflected students’ daily routines and teachers’ feedback in the design, improving flooring, heating systems and spaces intended to support the emotional stability of st

Sep 10, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
POSCO renovates 8 special education classrooms under CSR program
Companies

PHOTO Dyson's camera-equipped electric toothbrush

Dyson Head of New Product Development Rich Bacon introduces the CameraJet electric toothbrush during a press event on Seom Sevit, man-made islets on the Han River in Seoul, Thursday. CameraJet is equipped with an optical system that identifies gaps between the teeth in real time, triggering a jet burst of mouthrinse into the gap within 0.1 seconds. Courtesy of Dyson Korea

Sep 10, 2026By Nam Hyun-woophoto
[PHOTO] Dyson's camera-equipped electric toothbrush
Companies

SK chairman agrees to pay $524.3 mil. in property division in divorce case

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, who appealed a high court retrial ruling ordering him to pay 944 billion won ($706.6 million) in property division to his ex-wife, agreed to pay the 700 billion won ($524.3 million) portion of the ruling and filed to contest only the remaining 244 billion won in the appeal. According to sources on Wednesday, Chey’s legal representatives filed an application with the Seoul High Court on Aug. 31 to amend the scope of his appeal. In the filing, Chey’s side reduced the scope of the appeal to 244 billion won, saying it decided to accept 700 billion won “for the greater cause of bringing the prolonged legal battle to a prompt resolution.” It continued that the remaining amount has issues in legal interpretation that should still be contested. The renewed appeal is expected to focus on whether Chey’s SK Group shares should be included in the marital property subject to division and whether there were legal errors in how the division ratio and amount were calculated. The Supreme Court will look into these factors within the scope of the 244 billion won, Since

Sep 9, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
SK chairman agrees to pay $524.3 mil. in property division in divorce case
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