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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.

Google Cloud expands partnership with Samsung to accelerate agentic AI

Google Cloud said Monday it is partnering with Samsung Electronics to roll out its Gemini Enterprise AI platform to employees across Samsung's Device eXperience (DX) Division worldwide, including in Korea. Google Cloud called it its largest enterprise agentic artificial intelligence (AI) deployment in the country to date, aiming to set a new global benchmark for workplace productivity and operational innovation. Ruth Sun, president of Google Cloud Korea, said true workplace transformation in the agentic era requires moving beyond simple productivity tools toward deeper operational intelligence, calling Gemini Enterprise a secure foundation for Samsung employees to enter true enterprise AI and accelerate business innovation at global scale. The companies are building a dual-structure system: The Gemini Enterprise App serves as a conversational hub connecting Samsung's scattered internal systems, letting employees search and synthesize internal knowledge in real time rather than manually digging through data. The rollout is also meant to lay the groundwork for more advanced, autonomous mul

Jul 13, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Google Cloud expands partnership with Samsung to accelerate agentic AI

JobKorea widens lead as Korea's top recruitment platform

JobKorea has widened its lead in Korea's competitive online recruitment market, surpassing 10 million monthly active users in the first half of 2026 as its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven hiring services attracted more job seekers and strengthened its position as the country's largest platform for full-time employment. The AI and data-based human resources technology platform said Monday that its cumulative monthly active users reached about 10.86 million during the first half of the year, according to data analyzed with Mobile Index. The figure exceeded rival platforms, including Saramin with 9.79 million users, Remember with 4.83 million, Incruit with 870,000 and Wanted with 480,000. The gap between JobKorea and the second-largest platform widened to about 1.07 million users, compared with roughly 630,000 a year earlier. JobKorea also led the industry in new app installations during the first half, recording about 1.49 million downloads. Saramin posted about 770,000 new installations, while Remember recorded about 240,000. JobKorea said it was the only full-time recruitment platform

Jul 13, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
JobKorea widens lead as Korea's top recruitment platform

Hyundai Rotem acquires NATO quality assurance certificate for 1st time

The state-run defense agency in charge of quality assurance has awarded Hyundai Rotem Co. a certificate for quality management standards required by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in regard to the supply of defense products, officials said Monday. Hyundai Rotem received the certificate confirming that it meets NATO's quality assurance standards for its K2 tanks and other arms products, according to the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality. It marks the first time the agency has conferred the certificate on a defense firm since it acquired the right in March last year. The move is expected to bolster the entry of domestic defense firms into NATO's collective defense procurement market, reportedly valued at 15 trillion won ($10 billion), and enhance the credibility of the quality assurance system, according to officials.

Jul 13, 2026By Yonhap
Hyundai Rotem acquires NATO quality assurance certificate for 1st time

AMCHAM launches 'K-Doorknock' to support Korean companies expanding in US

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) has launched "K-Doorknock," a new advocacy program aimed at helping Korean companies strengthen their business and investment presence in the United States. The initiative will debut Monday (local time) in Washington, D.C., as part of AMCHAM's annual Washington Doorknock mission, which runs through Thursday. Washington Doorknock has long served as AMCHAM's flagship advocacy program, bringing business leaders to the U.S. capital to meet policymakers and opinion leaders on issues affecting bilateral economic ties. The newly introduced K-Doorknock expands that effort by providing a dedicated platform for Korean companies to engage directly with U.S. government officials and business leaders as they expand operations and investments in the U.S. AMCHAM said the new initiative reflects the increasingly two-way nature of the Korea-U.S. economic partnership, with the chamber seeking to support not only U.S. companies operating in Korea but also Korean companies investing and creating jobs in the United States. The inaugural K-Doorknock delegation

Jul 13, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
AMCHAM launches 'K-Doorknock' to support Korean companies expanding in US

Homeplus temporarily closes outlets starting Monday

Financially troubled discount store chain Homeplus said Monday it has decided to temporarily close its outlets starting Monday due to a lack of operating capital and difficulties in maintaining store operations. The decision came after the Seoul Bankruptcy Court terminated Homeplus' rehabilitation proceedings on July 3, saying the company had failed to secure at least 200 billion won ($130 million) needed to carry out its self-rescue plan. The retailer, wholly owned by private equity firm MBK Partners, has been financially strapped by a prolonged slump in the discount store industry and entered court-led rehabilitation in March 2025. Homeplus has asked its largest creditor, Meritz Financial Group, to provide a 200 billion-won working capital loan, but its request has yet to be accepted. "Most of our operating funds have been completely exhausted, leaving us unable to make payments to suppliers or cover operating expenses needed to keep our stores open," a company official said. He said both Homeplus' headquarters and all discount stores will suspend operations starting Monday to ensure se

Jul 13, 2026By Yonhap
Homeplus temporarily closes outlets starting Monday

K-beauty shopping diversifies beyond Olive Young

K-beauty shopping is expanding beyond Olive Young, long the dominant retail destination for both domestic consumers and foreign tourists, to a wider range of platforms. Retail platforms that previously focused on either fashion or food have begun testing their capabilities in beauty, while e-commerce platforms and department stores have introduced separate brands and platforms dedicated to the cosmetics sector. For an industry that has experienced exponential growth worldwide, a more diversified retail landscape is expected to further boost consumption and support its long-term growth. The country's three largest retail platforms are all expanding into the beauty market. Musinsa Beauty, operated by fashion giant Musinsa, is leveraging the company's rapidly expanding offline store network in Korea and overseas to broaden its beauty portfolio and grow its offline presence. On Friday, global luxury makeup brand NARS joined Musinsa Beauty, adding to its luxury lineup that includes MAC and Miu Miu. Musinsa Megastore Seongsu, the company’s flagship store in one of Seoul’s trendiest neighb

Jul 13, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
K-beauty shopping diversifies beyond Olive Young

PHOTO Lotte Mart Tay Ninh opens

Lotte Mart's Tay Ninh store in Vietnam is bustling with costumers during its opening day on Thursday (local time). The two-story store, Lotte Mart's first location in the country in three years, features dedicated zones for Korean food, K-beauty products and globally sourced goods. Lotte Mart’s Vietnamese subsidiary began making profits in 2022 and has been seeing year-on-year growth each year since. It posted first quarter sales of 134 billion won ($89 million) and operating profit of 17 billion won. Courtesy of Lotte Mart

Jul 12, 2026By Ko Dong-hwanphoto
[PHOTO] Lotte Mart Tay Ninh opens

POSCO, KB Kookmin Bank make banking easier for partner firms

Steelmaker POSCO has forged a partnership with KB Kookmin Bank to introduce a supply chain finance service for its partner firms, helping improve cash flow for suppliers amid a prolonged downturn in the steel industry. POSCO President Lee Hee-keun and KB CEO Lee Hwan-ju signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday at the steelmaker's office in Seoul. The new service is a financial system that connects financial institutions with companies participating in a supply chain from production to distribution to increase liquidity throughout the supply chain. It is designed as a win-win model that helps the cash flow of client companies that face difficulties in preparing funds due to delays in payments or a lack of collateral. Under the MOU, POSCO, its client companies and KB will be linked in a structure where the bank takes full charge of collecting sales payments and provides clients with both financial and nonfinancial services, including corporate loan support and environmental, social and governance consulting. The two companies will begin developing a system that integrates KB

Jul 12, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
POSCO, KB Kookmin Bank make banking easier for partner firms

SK hynix dollar inflow expected to bolster Korea's FX market

SK hynix Inc. is expected to inject a large amount of U.S. dollars into Korea's foreign exchange market after raising about 40 trillion won ($26.5 billion) through an American depositary receipt (ADR) offering on Nasdaq, industry sources said Sunday. The proceeds from the U.S. listing are scheduled to be paid to the company Monday. Given that SK hynix plans to use most of the funds for domestic investments, including the Yongin semiconductor cluster, much of the dollar-denominated proceeds is expected to be converted into the won, increasing the supply of dollars in the local foreign exchange market. The inflow is expected to ease pressure on the Korean won, which has remained weak against the dollar amid broad dollar strength and rising overseas investment by Korean companies, according to the sources. "The size and timing of the foreign exchange transactions have yet to be determined," an SK hynix official said. Market experts said the expected inflow is comparable in scale to the dollar liquidity supplied under the $60 billion currency swap deal between the Bank of Korea and the U.S. F

Jul 12, 2026By Yonhap
SK hynix dollar inflow expected to bolster Korea's FX market

Samsung Electronics to bring forward opening of 1st Yongin chip plant to 2029

Samsung Electronics Co. is moving to begin operations at the first semiconductor fabrication plant in its Yongin chip cluster in 2029, one to two years earlier than planned, industry sources said Sunday. The accelerated timeline comes as the government speeds up development of the Yongin National Industrial Complex, a national strategic project set to serve as the company's next-generation semiconductor manufacturing hub. Samsung is currently planning to begin operations in 2029 at the first of six semiconductor plants to be built at the Yongin industrial complex, just south of Seoul, according to the sources. "An earlier start of operations at the first plant will enable Samsung to respond more quickly to rapidly growing global demand for artificial intelligence chips," an industry official said. Separately, the chipmaker said last month that, under its mega project investment plan, it plans to invest 2,030 trillion won ($1.35 trillion) in its Pyeongtaek and Yongin semiconductor clusters, along with 400 trillion won to build two new chip plants in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul.

Jul 12, 2026By Yonhap
Samsung Electronics to bring forward opening of 1st Yongin chip plant to 2029
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