Business - The Korea Times

Doosan Enerbility wins 530 bil. won power plant contract in Oman

Doosan Enerbility, a major Korean plant builder, said Monday it has won a 530 billion won ($350 million) contract with a consortium including the state-run Korea Western Power Co. to build a combined cycle power plant in Oman. The company said it has formed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) consortium with China's SEPCO-3 for the construction of the 870-megawatt power plant in Duqm, 550 kilometers south of Muscat, the capital of the Middle Eastern nation. Doosan Enerbility will also manufacture and supply key equipment, including steam turbines and generators. The power plant, scheduled to be completed by 2029, will be built in a special economic zone at Duqm. The plant is expected to help meet the growing demand for electricity in southern Oman and improve the stability of power supply in the region. The project consortium includes Korea Western Power, Qatar's Nebras Power, the United Arab Emirates' Etihad Water and Electricity, as well as Bahwan Infrastructure Services of Oman. "We won the deal based on our experiences in carrying out projects in the Middle East and our

Jun 15, 2026By Yonhap

Doosan Enerbility wins 530 bil. won power plant contract in Oman

Ban on foreign access to Anthropic models highlights need for AI sovereignty

Anthropic's ban of foreign nationals' access to its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models in response to a U.S. government order highlights how cutting-edge AI tools have effectively become strategic assets subject to government export controls, experts said Sunday. With the Korean government and firms restricted from accessing those models, the move has reinforced calls for Korea to hedge against such risks through a more strategic approach and by strengthening its AI sovereignty. Anthropic on Friday cut off foreign access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, saying the U.S. government believes there is a method of bypassing a safeguard against using the model to find cybersecurity holes. Mythos 5 is Anthropic's security-focused model designed to identify software vulnerabilities at an expert level, while Fable 5 is a safety-tuned version developed for broader public deployment. The latest restrictions were imposed in the form of a U.S. export control measure, according to Anthropic. News website Semafor reported that the move was prompted by concerns that a China-linked grou

Jun 14, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

Ban on foreign access to Anthropic models highlights need for AI sovereignty

Clothing humanoid robots new mission for Hansae

A surprising scene unfolded in front of press at the Korea Federation of Textile Industries’ office in Seoul’s Gangnam District on June 8. A humanoid robot walked from behind the curtain to the center of stage to face the audience, drawing mild wows. The robot, about a meter tall and only a thick horizontal line where a human would have eyes, was dressed in a black sleeveless jacket and baggy pants. Its very presence was enough to keep the crowd’s attention. Soon, the hook from G-Dragon's “Power” reverberated across the stage and the robot, courtesy of Galaxy Corp., an entertainment-tech company that has a partnership with the K-pop superstar, began dancing to the upbeat tune. Its metallic feet tapped on the floor and its clothing fluttered with every jerky motion. The show lasted for about a minute and the robot walked off stage. The performance was part of a bold message from Hansae regarding its latest mission — developing clothes for robots as well as humans. Hansae group’s businesses range from fashion retail to e-commerce bookstore, concert ticketing and automobile p

Jun 13, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Clothing humanoid robots new mission for Hansae

AI model rivalry expands into defense sector

Artificial intelligence (AI) competition is expanding into the defense sector as domestic tech firms pivot to military applications, leveraging proprietary models and infrastructure in a market where security and data sovereignty are paramount. The shift comes as Naver Cloud and NC AI move beyond the government-led foundation model competition to target a fast-forming defense AI market. Naver Cloud held a seminar on Wednesday and unveiled its strategy for sovereign AI-based defense AI transformation (AX) advancement, outlining practical pathways to deploy AI in real-world military operations. The move follows the company’s launch earlier this month of a dedicated task force for defense AI adoption, marking its first standalone organization focused exclusively on military applications. The team, under company CEO Kim Yu-won, brings together business development, strategy, engineering and deployment personnel to accelerate military AI projects. The company is positioning itself as more than a model provider, aiming instead to build a full-stack Korean defense AI platform. By combining its

Jun 12, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee

AI model rivalry expands into defense sector

Korean rice aid expands into Africa's more challenging regions

The Korean government’s rice assistance program for African nations, aimed at improving local food security, has entered its second phase, targeting more challenging terrain where rice cultivation depends on rainfall rather than irrigation. So far, the Korea-Africa Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) project under the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has concentrated on irrigated paddy fields, which have demonstrated high yields and improved grain quality. The second phase, according to the ministry on Thursday, will begin developing new rice seeds that can withstand drought, low-temperature stress and salinity stress, which are chronic problems with rain-fed paddy fields. Working with AfricaRice, a nonprofit research and training center headquartered in Ivory Coast, the Korean ministry will also accelerate efforts to harvest the seeds faster by employing techniques like anther (pollen) culture or single seed descent for faster breeding and germination. Transferring rice seed and rice farming techniques to new member states of KAFACI is another obj

Jun 11, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Korean rice aid expands into Africa's more challenging regions

LG CNS, LX Pantos partner on humanoid-powered smart logistics

LG CNS is teaming up with LX Pantos to pilot humanoid-driven automation in logistics operations, marking a step toward next-generation smart warehouses. The company announced on Thursday that it has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with logistics provider LX Pantos to develop a robot-based smart logistics system and deploy it at LX Pantos’ logistics center in Cheongna, Incheon. The partnership will integrate humanoid robots with shuttle robots to automate end-to-end warehouse operations, from inbound handling to sorting and outbound shipping. LX Pantos, which operates more than 380 global logistics hubs, provides services spanning freight forwarding, contract logistics, last-mile delivery and e-commerce fulfillment, with end-to-end capabilities from transportation to warehousing and customs clearance. “This agreement will serve as a proof-of-concept to validate the real-world applicability of robotics and integrated learning and operations platforms in logistics environments,” said Park Sang-kyun, head of the Telecommunication, Distribution and Service Division at LG C

Jun 11, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee

LG CNS, LX Pantos partner on humanoid-powered smart logistics

Samsung Electronics to introduce ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude in operations

Samsung Electronics will introduce the world's top three generative artificial intelligence (AI) services across its operations as the company seeks to accelerate AI transformation beyond relying solely on in-house AI models and services. The company said Thursday its appliance-making Device Experience (DX) Division will officially allow employees to use ChatGPT, Gemini Enterprise and Claude across their operations from Friday. Samsung Electronics said it decided to introduce the AI services to give employees greater flexibility in selecting tools best suited to their work, rather than limiting them to a specific platform. It added that the move is aimed at accelerating AI transformation by creating an environment in which all employees can leverage the most effective tools. “This is not simply about introducing AI as a workplace tool. It marks the starting point for fundamentally transforming the way we work and execute,” Samsung Electronics co-CEO and Head of DX Division Roh Tae-moon said. "By strengthening execution capabilities across the organization, we aim to elevate the DX D

Jun 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

Samsung Electronics to introduce ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude in operations

InterviewSES AI eyes robotics boom with 'vibe research' tool for battery materials

The battery industry is bracing for a paradigm shift as the rise of physical artificial intelligence (AI) boosts demand beyond traditional applications such as electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESS) to include drones, humanoid robots and other robotic systems. The transition forces battery makers to invest more heavily in developing new materials and capabilities for delivering the power output, safety and durability required for next-generation robotics. SES AI, a Boston-based battery firm, believes “vibe research” will be at the center of this new paradigm. The AI-driven approach allows researchers to guide and orchestrate materials discovery through simple prompts, dramatically shortening battery development cycles “from years to weeks” while reducing research costs through the company’s Molecular Universe platform. During an interview with The Korea Times, SES AI founder and CEO Qichao Hu emphasized that the race to produce humanoid robot batteries will be about how quickly companies can discover and commercialize new materials, as humanoid robots are exp

Jun 11, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

SES AI eyes robotics boom with 'vibe research' tool for battery materials

Kakao union holds 1st-ever walkout over bonus pay dispute

Tech giant Kakao’s labor union staged its first-ever walkout on Wednesday, escalating a dispute with management over performance-based compensation after labor and management failed to reach an agreement. It is rare for a labor union in the IT industry to launch a strike. The industry is closely watching how the labor dispute at Kakao develops, as it could affect bonus talks in other companies across the sector. The union staged a partial strike from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The walkout included employees from Kakao and its affiliates — Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin and XL Games. According to the union, about 1,500 workers across the five entities, including around 1,000 employees from Kakao itself, took part in the action. About 800 union members also held a sit-in rally in front of Kakao’s Pangyo office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, followed by an 800-meter march from Pangyo Station on the Shinbundang Line. “Management failures resulted from management decisions, so why should workers bear the burden through restructuring and layoffs?” a union official said

Jun 10, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee

Kakao union holds 1st-ever walkout over bonus pay dispute

Samsung mulls new chip packaging plant in Gwangju

Samsung Electronics is doing a feasibility study on establishing a semiconductor packaging plant in the southwestern city of Gwangju, government and industry officials said Wednesday, noting that plans will likely be announced during a presidential meeting later this month. According to officials, Samsung Electronics is now reviewing its investment plan for the new semiconductor packaging plant to address growing memory chip demands and in response to President Lee Jae Myung's push for more balanced regional development. If the plan is finalized, the facility is expected to be responsible for advanced semiconductor packaging for Samsung Electronics' latest chips, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Packaging, which comes after the fabrication process in semiconductor manufacturing, was traditionally regarded as a lower-value, less technologically demanding stage, compared with front-end wafer processing, where ultrafine circuits are etched onto wafers using highly sophisticated equipment. However, as artificial intelligence semiconductors become increasingly advanced, the ability to

Jun 10, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

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