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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.

Naver founder Lee returns as company board chief amid push for sovereign AI leadership

Lee Hae-jin, the founder of Korea's leading online portal Naver, returned to the company's board as chairperson on Wednesday, signaling a push for a sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) strategy within the domestic tech industry. Lee's appointment as the chair of Naver's board was confirmed at the company's annual general shareholders' meeting held in Seongnam, south of Seoul. Lee, who has been serving as the company's global investment officer (GIO), will oversee Naver's overarching business strategies. He had previously stepped down as board chairperson in March 2017 and left the board entirely in 2018 to focus on expanding Naver's global footprint in his role as GIO. His return comes amid growing concerns that Korea is falling behind global tech giants in the fast-evolving space of AI model development. Naver is expected to bolster the development of HyperClova X, the company's proprietary LLM first introduced in 2023. The company aims to integrate AI across key services, including search and commerce platforms, to enhance its existing ecosystem. "I think it's incredibly unfortunate

Mar 26, 2025By yonhap
Naver founder Lee returns as company board chief amid push for sovereign AI leadership

Regulator on lookout for best option for MG Non-Life Insurance amid liquidation woes

The country's financial regulator is working to find a feasible and desirable option for financially feeble MG Non-Life Insurance, its chief said Wednesday, as the insurer is facing a looming liquidation. Earlier this month, Meritz Financial Group decided to drop its status of preferred bidder for the non-life insurer, citing differences with its labor union over job security. After being designated as a financially weak company by the financial watchdog in April 2022, MG Non-Life Insurance has been on the selling block. So far, four rounds of a sale bid to sell the insurer have fallen through. Kim Byoung-hwan, the chief of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said there are very limited options for the insurer. "We are closely analyzing what is a feasible and desirable option (for MG Non-Life Insurance)," Kim said, adding the insurer will be dealt with in accordance with laws and principles. According to the regulator, the insurer's financial footing has continued to weaken. The insurer's capital adequacy ratio under the Korean Insurance Capital Standard (K-ICS), a barometer of a finan

Mar 26, 2025By yonhap
Regulator on lookout for best option for MG Non-Life Insurance amid liquidation woes

Seegene presents model use case for Microsoft's AI solution at Seoul forum

Seegene, a Korean diagnostics solutions company, showcased its use of Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in expediting diagnostic reagent development processes during the U.S. tech company’s AI forum in Seoul Wednesday. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella arrived in Korea Tuesday for the Microsoft AI Tour in Seoul forum, which brought together Korean firms involved in Microsoft’s AI ecosystem to present their model use cases to participants. According to participants of the closed-door event, Seegene participated in a panel discussion on the health-care industry and introduced the company’s plans to leverage Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in its diagnostic reagent development processes. Azure OpenAI provides application programming interface access to OpenAI’s language models, such as GPT-4, through Microsoft’s secure cloud platform, Azure, enabling developers to integrate AI functions into their applications. During the panel discussion, Baek Young-seok, Seegene’s head of strategy and planning, introduced the company’s initiative to upgrade its automated dev

Mar 26, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Seegene presents model use case for Microsoft's AI solution at Seoul forum

Alaska Airlines to begin Incheon-Seattle flight Sept. 13

Alaska Airlines will launch a new nonstop service between Incheon and Seattle starting on Sept. 13, using the long-haul, wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft. According to the airline, the Incheon-Seattle route will operate five times a week — on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The flight departs from Incheon International Airport at 8:50 p.m. and arrives at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 3 p.m. on the same day. Return flights, which operate on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, depart Seattle at 3:25 p.m. and arrive in Incheon at 6:50 p.m. the following day. The new service is timed just ahead of a series of holidays — National Foundation Day, the Chuseok holiday and Hangeul Day, which runs from Oct. 3 to 12 — providing travelers the chance to enjoy a long weekend in Seattle, often referred to as the “Emerald City.” The airline is also considering adding its flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner to the route in the future. “With our robust network, we can connect our guests through our global gateway in Seattle for convenient nonstop service to S

Mar 26, 2025By Lee Min-hyung
Alaska Airlines to begin Incheon-Seattle flight Sept. 13

Starbucks collaborates with 'Peanuts' for Snoopy beverages, merch

Starbucks Korea will launch new Snoopy-inspired beverages and merchandise on Thursday. This marketing initiative follows a partnership between Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle and "Peanuts," the comic strip featuring the globally known beagle Snoopy, Charlie Brown and his lovable gang. The partnership is a new campaign “celebrating kindness, coffee and community.” At the center of the campaign is Snoopy’s persona, Joe Kind Snoopy. The campaign will feature new coffee drinks, food and merchandise featuring Joe Kind Snoopy, including a frappuccino, a latte, a macaron, mugs and tumblers. The campaign kicks off in more than 80 percent of Starbucks stores worldwide, including those in North America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, China, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Japan. The promotion will run until next month. Starbucks said the campaign was inspired by the "Peanuts" core of community and kindness and represents its latest commitment to making a positive impact in the communities it serves. “This promotion celebrates the belief that even the smallest acts of goodwill can

Mar 26, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
Starbucks collaborates with 'Peanuts' for Snoopy beverages, merch

KCCI chairman calls for shift in Korea’s export-centric economic model

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won called for a reassessment of the country's traditional economic model of “exporting goods manufactured in Korea,” in light of growing geopolitical and trade risks beyond its control. Chey made the remarks following his recent visit to the United States, where he led a Korean business delegation to meet key officials from the Donald Trump administration — including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick — in an effort to prevent potential trade challenges from the new U.S. administration. Despite these efforts, critics alleged that the outreach campaign was fruitless, as Washington continued to tighten its grip on the Korean economy by imposing new tariffs and using other economic tools to draw more investments from Korean companies into the U.S. During a press conference Tuesday marking his fourth year as KCCI chairman, Chey said the delegation received favorable feedback from the U.S., but at the same time noted that trade issues stemming from U.S. tariffs are among the key factors keeping the Korean economy “f

Mar 26, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
KCCI chairman calls for shift in Korea’s export-centric economic model

Czech president inspects Doosan Enerbility's local subsidiary amid nuclear project talks

Czech President Petr Pavel has visited Doosan Enerbility's subsidiary in the Czech Republic, the company said Wednesday, amid the South Korean plant builder's preparations for an expected nuclear power project in the European country. According to the company, Pavel visited Doosan Skoda Power, Doosan's Czech-based turbine unit, as part of the president's tour of major industrial sites in the country's western city of Plzen on Tuesday. During the visit, the company showcased its steam turbine manufacturing facilities and briefed the president on its preparations for a nuclear power plant project in Dukovany. In July 2024, the Czech government selected Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power as the preferred bidder for the Dukovany project. Upon the signing of a final contract, Doosan Skoda Power is expected to supply steam turbines, while other key equipment, such as reactors and steam generators, will be provided from South Korea. "The visit was a meaningful opportunity to demonstrate our steam turbine production capabilities to President Pavel," said Sohn Seung-woo, head of Doosan Enerbility's power

Mar 26, 2025By yonhap
Czech president inspects Doosan Enerbility's local subsidiary amid nuclear project talks

LG Energy wins ESS battery supply deal in Taiwan

LG Energy Solution (LGES), Korea's leading battery maker, said Wednesday it has signed a five-year deal with a Taiwanese company to supply batteries for residential energy storage systems (ESSs) in the United States. LGES will provide Delta Electronics, Inc. with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for the 4-gigawatt-hour (GWh) residential ESS systems for five years through 2030, the company said in a press release. The LFP batteries will be produced at LGES' plant in Michigan, it said. The Taiwanese electronics firm plans to begin selling the LFP battery-equipped residential ESS systems in the U.S. market later this year, the release said. LGES expects the latest deal will help it receive further ESS battery deals in the U.S. The U.S. residential ESS market is expected to grow to 6.76 trillion won ($4.74 billion) by 2030 from 1.28 trillion won in 2022, according to global market research firm Fortune Business Insights. In North America, LGES currently operates three battery cell plants — the first and second plants under a joint venture with General Motors Co. and the third in Hollan

Mar 26, 2025By yonhap
LG Energy wins ESS battery supply deal in Taiwan

Combined operating profit of top 500 firms jumps 66% in 2024, mainly on chip boom

The combined operating profit of Korea's top 500 companies surged 66 percent from a year earlier in 2024, driven largely by a rebound in the global semiconductor market, a report showed Wednesday. According to the report from corporate tracker CEO Score, the total operating profit of the top 500 firms reached 183.7 trillion won ($125.3 billion) in 2024, up from 110.6 trillion won the previous year. The companies' combined annual sales rose 5.8 percent to 2,523 trillion won from 2,384 trillion won in 2023. Net profit jumped 74.5 percent over the same period. The sharp rise in operating profit was led mainly by the strong performance from chipmakers SK hynix and Samsung Electronics amid robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory products. SK hynix recorded the largest growth, swinging to an operating profit of 23.5 trillion won from a 7.7 trillion-won loss in 2023, marking a gain of over 31.2 trillion won. The company benefited from soaring demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component for AI semiconductors. Samsung Electronics posted the second-largest increase, with it

Mar 26, 2025By yonhap
Combined operating profit of top 500 firms jumps 66% in 2024, mainly on chip boom

Microsoft CEO in Korea for AI meetings with biz leaders

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, visits Korea this week to meet Korean business leaders and discuss cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) and other areas, people close to the matter said Tuesday. Nadella arrived in Seoul earlier in the day and began his trip to Seoul with a meeting with Suh Kyung-bae, chairman of major Korean cosmetics producer Amorepacific. They discussed efforts to work together on utilizing AI technology in the beauty industry, people with knowledge of the matter said. Nadella met with Kim Young-shub, CEO of mobile carrier KT, and Chung Ki-sun, senior vice chairman of major shipbuilder HD Hyundai, for discussions likely to have focused on AI model upgrades and cloud services. KT and Microsoft have agreed to a joint five-year investment, worth about 2.4 trillion won ($1.63 billion) to launch public cloud security in the second half. Nadella also met with the head of Galaxy Cooperation, the entertainment agency K-pop singer G-Dragon is under, to discuss preparations for the singer's planned AI-integrated concert in Las Vegas next year. Nadella is scheduled to give a

Mar 25, 2025By yonhap
Microsoft CEO in Korea for AI meetings with biz leaders
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