my timesThe Korea Times
Business

Companies

Shipbuilding seen as starting point for Korea's US investment projects

After the United States revealed Japan’s first set of investment plans under its $550 billion commitment, calls are growing for Korea to take faster action on its U.S. investment plans to allay tariff pressures and secure its position in profitable sectors. Experts say shipbuilding can be a good start, as the U.S. has been actively seeking Korea's participation in reviving its shipbuilding industry. Its Maritime Action Plan, announced last week, seemed to reaffirm that commitment. These calls came after Japan announced Wednesday that it will invest in three projects worth $36 billion: constructing an artificial diamond manufacturing facility in Georgia, a natural gas power plant in Ohio and a deepwater crude oil export facility off the Texas coast. “The scale of these projects is so large, and could not be done without one very special word, TARIFFS,” U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his social media account. The progress made between Washington and Tokyo is creating pressure for Korea. Trump threatened on Jan. 26 to raise tariffs on Korean goods to 25 percent, the level prior

Feb 19, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Shipbuilding seen as starting point for Korea's US investment projects

CJ Logistics opens cross-border e-commerce hub in Saudi Arabia

CJ Logistics has opened a new cross-border logistics center in Saudi Arabia as part of its push to expand e-commerce delivery across the Middle East, the company said Thursday. Jonathan Song, head of the company’s Global Business Division, joined representatives from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation at an opening ceremony for the Saudi Global Distribution Center (GDC) on Feb. 12. The facility is located within the Riyadh Special Integrated Logistics Zone at King Khalid International Airport. Officials from the logistics zone’s operating body and iHerb, a U.S.-based health supplement company that distributes products globally through CJ Logistics, also attended the event. The launch follows a 2023 agreement between CJ Logistics and the Saudi civil aviation authority to develop the Saudi GDC, backed by an investment of 60 billion won ($41 million). Construction was completed last year, followed by trial operations to optimize the facility for e-commerce logistics. Spanning 20,000 square meters, the center can store, package and process customs clearance for up to 20

Feb 19, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
CJ Logistics opens cross-border e-commerce hub in Saudi Arabia

InterviewAMCHAM chief willing to mediate between Korea, US in Coupang dispute

American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) Chairman James Kim cautioned against attempts to tie Seoul’s ongoing investigation into Coupang to Washington’s threat to raise tariffs on Korean goods from 15 percent back to 25 percent. While supporting the Korean government’s denial of any connection between the two issues, the Korean American head of the U.S. business lobby also expressed his willingness to serve as a mediator to help resolve the growing dispute over the Delaware-headquartered e-commerce firm, which is also a member of the chamber. Kim told The Korea Times in a recent interview that there are people "trying to intermingle" the Coupang case with the stalled tariff talks. "They should be completely decoupled," he insisted. The Korean government has attributed the U.S. tariff threat to the National Assembly’s slowness in passing a bill to formalize Korea’s $350 billion investment in American industries. However, U.S. Republicans and Korean lawmakers from the conservative main opposition party have warned that tariff talks between Seoul and Washington could be nega

Feb 19, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk
AMCHAM chief willing to mediate between Korea, US in Coupang dispute

Hanwha Ocean signs cooperation agreements in Canada amid submarine project bid

Hanwha Ocean, a major shipbuilder in Korea, said Thursday it has struck cooperative agreements with a shipyard and a college in Canada amid its ongoing bid to win the country's submarine project. The company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ontario Shipyards on Wednesday (Canadian time) to provide shipbuilding technology and operational know-how, including ship design, production planning, quality management and smart shipbuilding systems, according to Hanwha Ocean. Ontario Shipyards, established as Heddle Shipyards in 1987, is one of the largest ship repair and construction companies operating on the Great Lakes. Through the MOU, Hanwha Ocean said it will support Ontario in restoring its capabilities to build large vessels and strengthening the foundation of Canada's naval industry. The two companies plan to expand their cooperation in line with Hanwha Ocean's bid for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP). Hanwha Ocean also reached a letter of intent with Ontario-based Mohawk College to establish a training center for shipbuilding professionals at Ontario Shipyards.

Feb 19, 2026By Yonhap
Hanwha Ocean signs cooperation agreements in Canada amid submarine project bid

Samyang moves to register ‘Buldak’ trademark

Samyang Foods is ramping up efforts to protect trademarks for products under its blockbuster instant noodle brand "Buldak," as fake products mimicking the label proliferate worldwide and disrupt its global market. The company said Thursday it plans to file for trademark registration of Buldak in English with the Korean Intellectual Property Office within the month. It previously attempted to trademark the brand’s Korean name, but authorities ruled in 2008 that the term was a widely used common noun and therefore ineligible for trademark protection. With more than 80 percent of its sales coming from overseas markets since 2024, Samyang Foods said securing the English trademark will help establish Buldak’s originality against copycat products that replicate its packaging design and brand name. “Without registering Buldak’s trademark here, it will be difficult for us to assert our rights outside Korea. Once the English name is listed among trademarks in Korea, we will have greater leverage in responding legally to rising trademark infringement cases worldwide,” Park Joong-seok, h

Feb 19, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Samyang moves to register ‘Buldak’ trademark

Hancom lands 1st overseas AI deal with Japan’s Cyberlinks

Hancom has secured its first overseas artificial intelligence (AI) contract, marking the company’s entry into the global AI market through a deal with Japanese cloud service provider Cyberlinks. The company said Thursday that it has signed an agreement to supply its AI-powered facial recognition solution, Hancom Auth, to Cyberlinks. Cyberlinks is a Japanese tech company specializing in cloud services for the public and retail sectors. It is known for operating Japan’s official public personal authentication platform using government-issued ID cards, and holds a dominant position in the country’s identity verification and digital trust market. By integrating Hancom’s technology to enhance its electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) services for digital identity verification, Cyberlinks aims to expand its footprint in Japan’s fast-growing eKYC market by offering upgraded authentication solutions to both existing and new clients. The Hancom Auth solution is built on technology from Spanish AI biometrics firm Facephi, in which Hancom has made a strategic investment, and has been local

Feb 19, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Hancom lands 1st overseas AI deal with Japan’s Cyberlinks

SK Innovation consortium wins $2.3 bil. LNG project in Vietnam

SK Innovation Co., Korea's leading refiner, said Thursday a consortium it formed with two Vietnamese companies has won a 3.3 trillion-won ($2.3 billion) power plant and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project in Vietnam. The consortium — comprising SK Innovation, Vietnamese power producer PV Power and sugar manufacturer NASU — won the project from the Nghe An provincial government in north-central Vietnam, the company said in a press release. Under the deal, the consortium will build a dedicated LNG port, an LNG terminal and a 1.5-gigawatt combined-cycle gas-fired power plant in Nghe An by 2030, with construction set to begin next year, it said. SK Innovation said it is considering shipping LNG to the Vietnamese terminal and operating it as a hub to supply fuel to power plants in neighboring areas. "Through this project, the company aims to become a major LNG player with processing capacity of 10 million tons per year by 2030, up from the current 6 million tons," a company spokesperson said.

Feb 19, 2026By Yonhap
SK Innovation consortium wins $2.3 bil. LNG project in Vietnam

Samsung Electronics employees' wages up 20% in 2025: report

The average annual salary of employees at Samsung Electronics is estimated to have jumped nearly 20 percent in 2025 from a year earlier amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, a report showed Thursday, with the total number of workers falling slightly. According to a report released by the Korea CXO Institute, the average annual salary of Samsung Electronics employees, excluding registered executives, was estimated at around 155 million won ($106,000), up 19.2 percent from 130 million won in 2024. The findings were based on an analysis of the firm's workforce expenses and the number of employees enrolled in the national pension program, the industry tracker said. The Korean tech giant, meanwhile, appears to have reduced the recruitment of new workers in 2025, as the total number of employees enrolled in the national pension program came to 124,996, down 0.5 percent from a year earlier. "Last year, some global tech companies reduced employment despite strong earnings amid the AI boom," the institute said in its report. "Major conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics, may see slower

Feb 19, 2026By Yonhap
Samsung Electronics employees' wages up 20% in 2025: report

POSCO becomes 1st Korean firm to earn certification for advanced warship materials

POSCO has set a new milestone in Korea’s defense industry with the development of advanced structural materials for naval vessels. The company said Thursday it successfully developed the nation’s first high-ductility hull structural steel and ballistic-resistant steel for naval use, both of which received classification certification in January from the Korean Register, a domestic ship classification society. Classification societies are organizations that evaluate and certify the safety and quality of materials, design and manufacturing processes used in ships and offshore structures. These institutions set standards and regulations that all such materials must meet. According to the steelmaker, the certification followed a comprehensive process that included material development, weldability verification and evaluation of protective performance for warships. High-ductility steel refers to steel with greater elongation and toughness than conventional grades, allowing it to stretch or deform under impact without fracturing. POSCO’s newly developed material improves elongation by mor

Feb 19, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk
POSCO becomes 1st Korean firm to earn certification for advanced warship materials

McDonald's Korea to raise prices of 35 menu items on higher costs

McDonald's Korea, the local unit of U.S. fast-food giant McDonald's, said Thursday it will raise the prices of 35 menu items by an average of 2.4 percent this week, citing higher costs. The increase comes less than a year after its previous price adjustment in March 2025, when the company raised prices of 20 menu items by an average of 2.3 percent. "The revision was inevitable due to the won's weakness against the U.S. dollar, which has driven up raw material costs, as well as higher labor expenses," the company said in a press release. Under the new pricing, the signature Big Mac combo will cost 7,600 won ($5.20) starting Friday, up from 7,200 won, the company said. The price of the company's bulgogi burger will increase by 200 won to 3,800 won. Prices of some side dishes and beverages will also rise. Earlier this month, Burger King, another U.S. fast-food chain, raised prices of its products in Korea for similar reasons. The price of its flagship Whopper burger was raised by 200 won to 7,400 won.

Feb 19, 2026By Yonhap
McDonald's Korea to raise prices of 35 menu items on higher costs
previous page
9394959697
next page

Most Read in Business