Business - The Korea Times

PHOTO Celebrating 40th anniv.

Merck Korea Managing Director Kim Woo-kyu, fourth from left, cuts cake to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the company's Ansan production site during a ceremony at the plant in Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. The company said Wednesday the company has been making industrial contributions through semiconductor facility construction and other projects, and has engaged in various volunteer efforts for social contribution during its history. Starting second from left are Merck Electronics Global Head of Equipment Cluster Rob Mortensen, Ansan City Vice Mayor Heo Nam-seok, Kim and Ansan Site Director Kim Sang-yup. Courtesy of Merck Korea

Jul 1, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

Labor, infrastructure remain hurdles for Korea's AI megaprojects

Korea’s ambitious plan to build a new semiconductor manufacturing hub in the country's southwestern region and expand artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure faces growing practical questions over how to secure the workforce and industrial infrastructure needed to support these projects outside the Seoul metropolitan area. The government on Monday unveiled three flagship megaprojects — semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers — as new growth engines, backed by more than 1,350 trillion won ($872 billion) in planned public and private investment. The initiative includes about 800 trillion won to build four memory fabs, two each for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the southwestern region, while strengthening existing manufacturing bases in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and other sites around the capital region. SK Group, GS Group and Naver are also expected to invest around 550 trillion won to develop AI data centers with a total capacity of 8.4 gigawatts in the initial phase and expand to 18.4 gigawatts by 2035. Samsung Group and SK Group separately pledged a combined 4,

Jun 30, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee

Labor, infrastructure remain hurdles for Korea's AI megaprojects

Samsung Electro-Mechanics bags $294 mil. MLCC supply deal with US Big Tech firm

Samsung Electro-Mechanics will supply multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) for artificial intelligence (AI) servers to a U.S. Big Tech firm, signing a $294 million (454 billion won) contract. The company said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it has signed a one-year supply deal that will begin on Jan. 1 next year. The company did not identify the customer, but sources said it is a U.S. cloud service provider. The deal accounts for approximately 9 percent of the component division's 2025 revenue of 5.2 trillion won. MLCC is a component that stabilizes power for semiconductors and other electronic devices. As power fluctuations in servers can directly affect performance, MLCCs have become increasingly important in AI server environments. AI server applications require high-performance MLCCs that can withstand the harsh operating conditions created by intensive computing workloads, such as high heat and greater stress for warpage. AI servers contain more than 10 times as many MLCCs as conventional servers. A typical AI graphics processing unit is equipped with more than 20,000 MLCCs, mea

Jun 30, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

Samsung Electro-Mechanics bags $294 mil. MLCC supply deal with US Big Tech firm

Science ministry vows $650 bil. investment in AI data centers

Korea will push for the investment of over a quadrillion won ($650 billion) in the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers by 2035, the science minister said Monday. Minister Bae Kyung-hoon unveiled the plan during a national investment briefing chaired by President Lee Jae Myung at Cheong Wa Dae, emphasizing that ample data is important for Korea to secure a leading position in the global physical AI race. "The next three years will be the golden time to become the No. 1 in the area of physical AI," Bae said. "The government will lead the physical AI sector, by designating it as a national strategic industry." Under the plan, an initial investment of 550 trillion won will be spent to build 8.4 gigawatts (GW) of AI data centers by 2029. The ministry will gradually expand the infrastructure by 10 GW until 2035, Bae said. Infrastructure will be concentrated in non-capital areas for balanced regional development, he added. "Global investment earmarked for data centers over the next five years is $5.5 trillion, or 8.4 quadrillion in Korean won," Bae said, quoting Nvidia's ch

Jun 29, 2026By Yonhap

Science ministry vows $650 bil. investment in AI data centers

KAIST appoints Bae Choong-sik as new president

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has appointed Bae Choong-sik, a professor in the mechanical engineering department, as its new president, ending a 16-month leadership vacuum at the country's top science institution, the university said Monday. During a board meeting at its Seoul campus, the university appointed the 63-year-old as its 18th president. Bae is a renowned expert in eco-friendly energy and carbon-neutral power engineering. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from Seoul National University and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London. He joined KAIST in 1998 and has since served in key posts, including as the dean of KAIST College of Engineering. Bae has played a key role in shaping Korea's science and technology policies, serving as a regular member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and a climate change adviser for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He became the first Korean to be named a fellow by the Society of Automotive Engineers in the powertrain field and received

Jun 29, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

KAIST appoints Bae Choong-sik as new president

Korea's smart road management system makes foray into Peru

Korea’s smart road management system has become Peru’s official project for domestic deployment, opening ways for Korean firms to expand its market to the South American nation. The Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday the Peruvian government on Thursday (local time) selected a master plan for a 1,560-kilometer segment of the Pan-American Highway connecting Trujillo and Arequipa as a legally mandated national plan. The master plan was proposed by the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK), a nonprofit think tank for private construction firms here with interests overseas. The master plan, an official development assistance (ODA) project, is to introduce a set of accident- and disaster-proof intelligent transport systems (ITS) on the highway that runs in two to six lanes and sees up to 39,800 vehicles per day. Thirteen ITS will be deployed on the highway in series by 2035, with a 133.2-kilometer section between Lima and Chancay being the primary site. Korea Expressway Corp., a state-run highway builder, and Korean private firms Eznsys and D

Jun 28, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea's smart road management system makes foray into Peru

Micron's strong earnings stoke hope for Samsung, SK hynix Q2 results

U.S. memory chip maker Micron’s strong earnings and rosy mid-term outlook are prompting expectations on the profitability of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the second quarter. According to industry officials, Sunday, Samsung Electronics is expected to release its earnings guidance for the April-June period around July 7, while SK hynix will announce its financial results in late July. Brokerages are already expecting both companies to post record earnings. According to market tracker FnGuide, brokerage consensus forecasts Samsung Electronics to post 86 trillion won ($56 billion) in operating profit and 170.47 trillion won in revenue. The figures would represent year-on-year increases of 1,739.6 percent and 128.62 percent, respectively, exceeding the previous record highs of 57.2 trillion won in operating profit and 133.87 trillion won in revenue posted in the first quarter just three months earlier. SK hynix is expected to post 63.45 trillion won in operating profit and 82.89 trillion won in sales, up 589 percent and 273 percent year-on-year, respectively. The figures would also su

Jun 28, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

Micron's strong earnings stoke hope for Samsung, SK hynix Q2 results

S. Korea to launch 4th medium-sized multipurpose satellite on July 9: space agency

SACHEON — South Korea plans to launch its fourth next-generation medium-sized satellite on July 9, with final preparations under way at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the country's space agency said. Oh Tae-seok, administrator of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), announced the plan during a meeting with reporters at the agency's headquarters in Sacheon, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Wednesday. The 500-kilogram Earth observation satellite will be jointly utilized by the Rural Development Administration and the Korea Forest Service for applications such as crop growth analysis and wildfire monitoring. The launch will mark KASA's third satellite mission in less than a year, following the successful deployment of Multipurpose Satellite 7 in December and next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 2 in May. Both satellites are currently operating normally and carrying out their missions. At the same time, South Korea's latest multipurpose satellite, Arirang 6, is facing a fresh delay due to setbacks in the development of a foreign co-passenger satellite tha

Jun 25, 2026By Yonhap

S. Korea to launch 4th medium-sized multipurpose satellite on July 9: space agency

SK hynix to raise up to $29.4 bil. via Nasdaq ADR offering

SK hynix is set to raise up to 45.45 trillion won ($29.4 billion) through an American depositary receipt (ADR) offering backed by newly issued shares, expanding its global investor base and funding major semiconductor projects. The chip giant said Wednesday that its board approved the ADR issuance, with the securities set to debut on Nasdaq on July 10. Depositary receipts are bank-issued securities that represent shares in a foreign company, allowing investors to trade them on local exchanges. Under the offering structure, newly issued common shares will be deposited with a local custodian in Korea, and a U.S. depositary bank will issue ADRs representing those underlying shares for trading on Nasdaq. The indicative price is set at 255,500 won per ADR, based on the company's Tuesday closing price of 2.555 million won for the underlying common shares. Each ADR will represent 0.1 of a common share, with up to 17.79 million new shares to be issued under the offering. Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are acting as joint lead underwriters for the offering. The Korea Securiti

Jun 24, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee

SK hynix to raise up to $29.4 bil. via Nasdaq ADR offering

KT targets enterprise AX market with AI Innovation Hub

KT is deepening its push into the enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) transformation market with its AI Innovation Hub designed to help companies move beyond pilot projects to turn AI investments into measurable business results. Located at the company’s headquarters in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, the facility serves as an end-to-end AI development environment. Corporate clients can define business problems, test AI models on proprietary data and refine outputs before committing to full-scale deployment. “Companies often struggle to determine where to begin with AI adoption, or find that pilot projects fail to translate into real-world deployment due to various operational hurdles,” Jeon Seung-rok, KT’s senior vice president and go-to-market unit lead, said during a media briefing at its headquarters on Tuesday. “The Innovation Hub is intended to address these challenges and help clients jointly define their AI transformation strategy.” KT said about 200 companies have visited the facility since the hub opened last October, with more than 30 progressing to actual deployme