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KAI, Naver team up to develop defense AI platform

Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Korean portal operator Naver will jointly develop an artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model tailored for the defense sector, the companies said Tuesday. KAI, the developer of the homegrown KF-21 fighter jet, Naver and its cloud arm, Naver Cloud, signed a memorandum of understanding for an aerospace and defense AI partnership at KAI's headquarters in the southeastern city of Sacheon on Monday. Under the agreement, the three companies will combine Naver's AI and cloud technologies with KAI's aerospace expertise and defense system integration capabilities to develop an AI foundation model optimized for defense applications. They also plan to strengthen sovereign AI capabilities for defense, develop proprietary AI models, advance physical AI technologies and expand the country's defense AI ecosystem. Sovereign AI refers to AI systems that are independently developed and operated to align with a country's data, language, regulatory and security requirements. Priority areas include autonomous flight and mission execution technologies for unmanned aer

Jul 7, 2026By Yonhap
KAI, Naver team up to develop defense AI platform

Samsung Electronics' Q2 profit tops Nvidia's record on AI chip boom

Samsung Electronics once again projected record-breaking earnings for the second quarter, Tuesday, forecasting an operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58.4 billion) and 171 trillion won in sales in its earnings guidance, driven by a global boom in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. The company said its operating profit is estimated to have surged 1,810.3 percent from a year earlier and 56.2 percent from the previous quarter, while sales also jumped 129.3 percent year-over-year and 27.7 percent from the first quarter. The earnings estimate surpasses Samsung’s previous record quarterly operating profit of 57.23 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, extending its unprecedented streak to a third consecutive quarter of record revenue and operating profit. The second-quarter operating profit alone exceeded the company’s combined operating profit over the past three years, which totaled 82.9 trillion won — 6.57 trillion won in 2023, 32.7 trillion won in 2024 and 43.6 trillion won in 2025. The results also surpass the record quarterly operating profits posted by tw

Jul 7, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Samsung Electronics' Q2 profit tops Nvidia's record on AI chip boom

Gwangju Airport site chosen for southwestern chip hub

An airport in Gwangju has been selected as the site for a new semiconductor cluster, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to build facilities there as part of the government’s megaprojects aimed at expanding the country's chip manufacturing capacity. The Gwangju Airport location was chosen during a meeting of officials from relevant government organizations and executives from the companies, which was held a week after the chip giants announced their massive investment plan totaling 800 trillion won ($522 billion) for the cluster. Gwangju Airport has both civilian and military functions, with civilian aircraft operating only domestic routes. Discussions have been ongoing about relocating the airport's operations to Muan, South Jeolla Province. “Among the shortlisted candidate sites in the southwestern region, the companies said the airport site is the most suitable one,” presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said in a press briefing. He explained that the airport site offers the strongest advantages due to its flattened terrain and strong tra

Jul 6, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Gwangju Airport site chosen for southwestern chip hub

Nanomedicine pioneer Cheon Jin-woo named Korea’s top scientist of 2026

Cheon Jin-woo, a professor at Yonsei University widely regarded as Korea's pioneer in nanomedicine, has been named the winner of the 2026 Top Scientist and Technologist Award of Korea, the nation's highest honor for scientists and engineers. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies announced Monday that Cheon, a distinguished professor and founding director of the Institute for Basic Science Center for Nanomedicine at the university, was selected as this year’s award winner. Cheon was recognized for pioneering the field of nanomedicine by integrating nanochemistry with biotechnology to develop novel medical approaches for disease diagnosis, cell therapy and neural circuit modulation. Nanomedicine is increasingly being applied beyond disease diagnosis and drug delivery, with researchers exploring its potential in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and other areas of neuroscience. Cheon developed magnetogenetics technologies to demonstrate that the neuronal activity of living animals can be wirelessly and remotely controlled using magneti

Jul 6, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Nanomedicine pioneer Cheon Jin-woo named Korea’s top scientist of 2026

New KT CEO vows $12 bil. investment for transition to AI platform company

New KT CEO Park Yoon-young pledged Monday to invest 18 trillion won ($11.77 billion) into network security and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, as part of his plan to rebrand the telecom operator as an AI transformation platform company. Park said KT seeks to become an AI transformation platform company built on two core business pillars: its telecommunications business and AI business, which includes data centers, cable and AI transformation services. “The network business is our foundation, and we have to make that foundation stronger so we can build the company's next stage of growth through AI transformation," Park said during a press conference in Seoul, his first since taking office in March. “Our vision is built on two pillars: reinforcing our core business while driving the company's next phase of growth through AI transformation. To strengthen its telecommunications business, KT plans to invest 12 trillion won over the next three years in information security, IT and network infrastructure. As part of the investment, 4 trillion won will be allocated to information

Jul 6, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
New KT CEO vows $12 bil. investment for transition to AI platform company

Mobile phone activation rules tighten Monday with facial recognition option

The government will require stricter identity verification for new mobile subscriptions starting Monday, including facial recognition or digital ID authentication, as part of a broader effort to combat identity theft, illegal phone registrations and voice phishing. Under the new procedures, users signing up for a new line or switching carriers must verify their identity using facial recognition, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's mobile ID app or a certified copy of their resident registration record issued on the same day. For users who either fail facial recognition or do not wish to use biometric authentication, carriers can use nonfacial recognition alternative methods to approve and proceed with conditional activation. The new rules will apply across all channels, including carrier stores, third-party retailers and online platforms, covering both major telecom operators and mobile virtual network operators. The strengthened verification does not apply to customers upgrading devices with the same carrier. The measures aim to prevent fraudulent mobile activations using stolen id

Jul 5, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Mobile phone activation rules tighten Monday with facial recognition option

SK Telecom plans 15GW AI data center buildout across Korea by 2035

SK Telecom on Sunday announced its plan to develop up to 15 gigawatts of artificial intelligence (AI) data center capacity nationwide, aiming to position Korea as a leading AI infrastructure hub in Asia. The initiative comes as surging demand for AI model training and inference is driving an unprecedented need for high-performance computing infrastructure. The company said it will advance the project in alignment with the government’s AI G3 goal, reviewing power, site and operational requirements. "The AI data center initiative is designed to proactively prepare the computing infrastructure needed for the global AI ecosystem," SK Telecom CEO Jung Jai-hun said. "We will work closely with the government, industry and local communities to help establish Korea as Asia's leading AI infrastructure hub." The telecom will take a phased approach, beginning with its first AI data center in Ulsan, currently under construction, and expanding into a broader cluster exceeding 2 gigawatts across the southeastern region. It aims to use the cluster as a foothold to attract global tech giants seeking to

Jul 5, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
SK Telecom plans 15GW AI data center buildout across Korea by 2035

Korea to establish low-Earth orbit communications network by 2035

South Korea aims to establish a low-Earth orbit satellite communications network composed of hundreds of satellites by 2035 and accelerate the country's first lunar landing to 2030, the state-run space agency said Friday. The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) unveiled the plan during a public briefing on advanced industry development held in the southeastern city of Jinju. The strategy was approved earlier in the day by the National Space Council, chaired by President Lee Jae Myung. KASA said building the network will help strengthen South Korea's domestic satellite and launch vehicle development and manufacturing ecosystem as the country pushes to build its own version of SpaceX's Starlink network. "Leading space nations are making all-out efforts to build low-Earth orbit satellite communications networks, which are critical infrastructure for safeguarding national security and communications sovereignty, as well as a strategic foundation for the 6G era," KASA Administrator Oh Tae-seok said. The agency said it plans to launch between 128 and 512 satellites, which cost at least 4 tri

Jul 3, 2026By Yonhap
Korea to establish low-Earth orbit communications network by 2035

Korea to establish low-Earth orbit communications network by 2035

Korea aims to establish a low-Earth orbit satellite communications network composed of hundreds of satellites by 2035 and accelerate the country's first lunar landing to 2030, the state-run space agency said Friday. The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) unveiled the plan during a public briefing on advanced industry development held in the southeastern city of Jinju. The strategy was approved earlier in the day by the National Space Council, chaired by President Lee Jae Myung. KASA said building the network will help strengthen Korea's domestic satellite and launch vehicle development and manufacturing ecosystem as the country pushes to build its own version of SpaceX's Starlink network. "Leading space nations are making all-out efforts to build low-Earth orbit satellite communications networks, which are critical infrastructure for safeguarding national security and communications sovereignty, as well as a strategic foundation for the 6G era," KASA Administrator Oh Tae-seok said. KASA also aims to bring forward Korea's first lunar landing to 2030, two years ahead of schedule. Instead

Jul 3, 2026By Yonhap
Korea to establish low-Earth orbit communications network by 2035

Tech leaders showcase technology at Quantum Korea 2026

Leading technology companies and institutions showcased their latest quantum technology developments at Quantum Korea 2026, which opened on Thursday, as the government seeks to position Korea as a global leader in quantum technology through various policy initiatives. Hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT since 2023, Quantum Korea will run through Saturday. This year’s edition focuses on how quantum technologies are being implemented and used in actual settings. A total of 56 companies and research organizations from 12 countries, including SK Telecom and KT, participated in the event, displaying quantum computer models and showcasing technologies that use quantum-based encryption and other security solutions. The telecom companies focused on quantum security solutions, as advances in quantum computing are expected to increase the risk of existing encryption systems being compromised. The key concept in their exhibitions was quantum key distribution (QKD) technology. QKD sends encryption keys using the quantum states of photons. Because observing a photon changes its quantum state,

Jul 2, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Tech leaders showcase technology at Quantum Korea 2026
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