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KT joins hands with AT&T, Vodafone

Seeking global business opportunities with AT&T By Kim Yoo-chul KT, the country’s second-biggest mobile carrier, aims to defy a decades-long image as just a local player by showing off its cutting-edge technology at the world’s biggest telecommunications fair. And KT has a pair of powerful allies, as having joined up with AT&T of the United States and Vodafone of the United Kingdom to run the Connected House at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this week. KT, headed by CEO Lee Suk-chae, said Sunday it plans to provide free Wi-Fi and the Connected House will act as a place where major telecom firms come together, offering a taste of futuristic telecommunications services that include those for machine-to-machine (M2M). ``With M2M, various NFC technologies for commercial and general use will be exhibited,’’ said KT spokesman Lee In-won. KT did not reiterate its high-profile cooperation but said that the maneuver is about boosting its bottom line on a global level. Lee said: ``The Connected House reflects our sincere pitches to appeal to outside customers. KT aims to ea

Feb 26, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

DSME names CEO from among top management

By Kim Yoo-chul Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) appointed Executive Vice President Ko Jae-ho as its next chief executive Friday with current boss Nam Sang-tae on his way out. If granted approval by the company’s board and its shareholders, Ko could be at the management helm by next month. ``The nomination committee has named Ko as the candidate to be the next CEO. Five candidates competed for the position,’’ DSME said in a statement. The committee isn’t expecting any objection from the company’s board of directors and shareholders, both scheduled to meet next month, company insiders said. ``Ko is definitely qualified to handle DSME’s field and global businesses. He served a critical role in the company’s growth as a senior executive in the past five years,’’ said an official from the committee. Ko graduated from Seoul’s Korea University with a bachelor’s degree in law and started his DSME career in 1980. He served as the president of its affiliate in Britain and also as the company’s human resources officer. Nam earlier voluntarily resigned

Feb 24, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Scoping the future

Samsung will make move for Olympus’ healthcare biz By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics is ready to spend 2 trillion won (about $1.8 billion) to absorb the healthcare business of struggling Japanese competitor Olympus, industry sources told The Korea Times. While officials of the Korean technology giant have been declining to speak officially about the plans, one company insider says a variety of options are being considered in terms of share investment, which include an outright acquisition of the Olympus unit. The last time Samsung was involved in talks for a technology sector mega-deal was in 2008 when it appeared to be in play for American storage giant SanDisk, although it eventually pulled out of contention. While Olympus has been struggling in consumer electronics, it still has a 70 percent share in the global market for flexible diagnostic endoscopes and boasts a strong presence in other medical equipment fields. It could be a good fit for Samsung, which sees healthcare among its future growth engines, although it will have to beat Japanese rivals Sony and

Feb 24, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Nanum to hold venture forum

By Kim Yoo-chul The Hyundai’s Asan Nanum Foundation (ANF) said Thursday that it will hold a forum aimed at helping small venture companies. Asan is Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung’s pen name and "Nanum" is the Korean word for sharing. Some 200 experts including the foundation’s honorary Chairman Chung Mong-joon will attend the one-day seminar which will be held in downtown Seoul from 2 p.m., Friday, ANF said in a statement. ``We will discuss various pending issues. How to effectively help young job seekers is one of the top agenda issues. ANF will soon launch the Chung Ju-yung fund to help young entrepreneurs hoping to run independent venture firms,’’ Chung was quoted as saying in the press release. Chung is the largest single shareholder of the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). Chung stressed that the fund will make a big contribution to help the young and talented start a business and the forum will find ways to revitalize the management of investments. The Nanum foundation with an initial capital of 500 billion won was launched last year. Chung donated part of

Feb 23, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LSIS taking salient spot in smart grid world

CEO Koo upbeat about growth with clean energy consciousness By Kim Yoo-chul ANYANG, Gyeonggi Province ― LSIS, Korea’s leading manufacturer of electrical components, is becoming stronger in ``smart grids,’’ and is ready to expand globally. CEO Koo Ja-kyun is upbeat about corporate sustainability, believing that smart grids will become the next big thing. ``For LSIS, smart grids aren’t wholly new because they have been around for a while,” Koo said. “What’s new is our strengthened consciousness to use energy efficiently and cleanly.” Solar, transmission, radio frequency identification (RFID) and components for electric vehicles compose LSIS’ smart grid projects. The four categories are the right areas to help LSIS see a vertical integration of the company’s initiatives for smart grids. Vertical integration refers to people bringing utility companies’ electricity delivery systems into the 21st century using computer-based remote control and automation. A key feature of the smart grid is automation technology that lets the utility firms adjust and control each ind

Feb 23, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Hyundai Heavy to reduce solar exposure

World’s largest shipbuilder in talks with SK, POSCO about sale of $270 mil. plant By Kim Yoo-chul The prolonged downturn in the global solar market is proving too much for Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Korea’s biggest solar business operator, to endure. HHI has decided to vastly restructure its solar business after scrapping plans to build two solar photovoltaic power plants roughly valued at $700 million in Arizona, the United States, said Hyundai officials. ``The market demand is way below expectations. The feasibility is lost,’’ a source told The Korea Times, Tuesday. The restructuring will come after the shipbuilder has already downsized its investment by over 40 percent. Part of the restructuring involves a discounted sale of a production facility for crystalline silicon, a raw material for solar cells. ``Hyundai is talking to SK Energy and POSCO, separately, about selling its equipment for crystalline silicon production including module plants located in Eumseong, a provincial city southwest of Seoul. The so-called `No. 1' there are worth about $270 m

Feb 22, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Opinion

Value sale and#8212; Home plus experiment

By Oh Young-jin Lee Seung-han, chairman and CEO of the retail chain Home plus, was like a magician on stage. In a recent interview that lasted more than two hours, the 66-year-old business leader, who cut his corporate teeth at Samsung Group, never stopped showing us clever ideas, novel notions and good causes so as to make at least one of six interlocutors at the table feel as if he were pulling one rabbit after another from the hat. Of course, if some of those causes, notions and ideas were not translated into reality, Lee should have been regarded as something like David Copperfield appearing on a Samsung Electronics smart television commercial. But Lee has made his leap from thought to action, the biggest result being the supermarket chain that is 100 percent owned by Tesco but almost independently operated by Lee. In 1999, his Home plus experiment began as he tried to sell not just groceries and other merchandise but, more importantly, give value to his prospective customers. His partners and colleagues as well as rival retailers reacted as if he was out of

Feb 20, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Exclusive LG, Samsung to cut Chinese LCD plan

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Display is cutting investment for LCD production in China in order to concentrate on the OLED business. Samsung Electronics is also moving in the same direction. A glut is putting pressure on LG to migrate into more profitable displays. ``It doesn’t make any sense that LG is continuing to make big investments in its LCD-making facilities in China,’’ said a high-ranking LG executive, who is familiar with the situation. “We have decided to halve investment in our China factory to less than 2 trillion won," he said asking not to be identified as he wasn't given the right to officially speak to the media. ``LG will invest more on OLED panels with the savings,’’ he said. He expects the same for Samsung Electronics. LG is talking with several brokerages with the goal of borrowing up to $300 million to fund its OLED business, company sources said. It plans to start its first LCD factory in southern China in 2014. LG had planned to invest over 4.2 trillion won to construct an LCD plant. Gary Sohn, LG Display’s public relations official, decline

Feb 20, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Desperate LG has high hopes for Galaxy Note competitor

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Electronics plans to release a new mobile Internet device aimed at consumers looking for something bigger than smartphones and smaller than conventional tablets. Samsung Electronics, its local archrival, already has such a product in Galaxy Note, which is built around a 5.3-inch display, but LG claims that its similar-sized product, Optimus VU, differentiates in a meaningful way. The company plans to showcase the Optimus VU at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month and its media officials are desperately trying to sell the word ``phablet,’’ an awkward combination between ``phone’’ and ``tablet.’’ Optimus VU features a 5-inch display, run on fourth-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks and supports IceCream Sandwich, the latest version of Google’s Android mobile operating system, company officials said. Aside of conventional functions such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Optimus VU will also support near field communications (NFC) technology that enables users to use the devices like a credit card. Unlike the Galaxy Note, Optim

Feb 19, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

KT wants to charge more for Internet use

By Kim Yoo-chul KT wants to charge more for Internet use but its bid led by CEO Lee Suk-chae faces opposition amid populist sentiment gripping the National Assembly. Sources say KT’s decision to “disable” Internet access by smart televisions was part of Lee’s plan to squeeze more out of Internet use. Samsung Electronics protested and the government intervened, forcing KT to back off. Lee made his point, although no new pricing decision was made. ``Our chairman believes the new charging system will generate revenue to boost the money-losing fixed-line business,’’ a KT official said Wednesday. But Lee’s move is being delayed by lawmakers. ``The ruling Saenuri Party has shown no sign of acting on it because of the coming elections, the source said. Even, the politically-savvy Lee is not doing much, considering lawmakers and potential presidential candidates are trying to win the hearts and minds of voters. Raising Internet fees would not be popular. SK and LG Uplus are maintaining unlimited data pricing. By paying fixed basic fees, they are free to download unl

Feb 16, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
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