Business - The Korea Times

Samsung Electronics' first labor union under umbrella group sets sail

Samsung Electronics' first union announced its foundation at the Federation of Korean Trade Union's headquarters on Yeouido, Saturday. YonhapSamsung Electronics' first union ― registered under a major South Korean umbrella union group ― set sail Saturday.Under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the union submitted an establishment application to the government Monday and earned approval two days later.It did not unveil the number of members, but this is known to hover at around 500. The union said its first goal was to recruit 10,000 members, and that it would then demand negotiations with the company once a certain membership threshold was reached. Samsung Electronics is the crown jewel of the country's leading conglomerate Samsung, which has been criticized by labor activists and some politicians for its treatment of workers who try to unionize. Samsung Electronics has had three small unions, but the current launch marks the first time for a union to be formed under one of the two largest umbrella union groups in the country ― the FKTU and the Korean Confederation of Tra

Nov 16, 2019

Samsung Electronics' first labor union under umbrella group sets sail

LG Chem CEO vows to support battery parts makers

Shin Hak-cheol, center, vice chairman and CEO of LG Chem, inspects a battery pack case from Dongshin Motech in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday. / Courtesy of LG ChemBy Baek Byung-yeulLG Chem will support local battery parts-making companies, emphasizing the importance of achieving mutual growth with its partners to upgrade Korea's competence in the fast-growing industry, Shin Hak-cheol, the company's vice chairman and CEO, said Friday.“Being dubbed the second semiconductor industry, making batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) has enormous growth potential,” Shin said during meetings with local battery parts makers. “To make the country a powerhouse in the sector, seeking mutual growth with local materials, parts and equipment companies in the business is the most important thing we need to do.” Shin visited two companies ― Dongshin Motech in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, which produces battery pack cases for EVs, and Daegu's Shinsung FA, which manufactures EV battery-making equipment ― to seek ways to boost cooperation with them.During his visit,

Nov 15, 2019By Baek Byung-yeul

LG Chem CEO vows to support battery parts makers

Naver to create global internet platform with SoftBank

By Jun Ji-hyeNaver's Japanese subsidiary Line is set to merge with Yahoo Japan, seeking to become a global internet group that can match China's e-commerce giant Alibaba or the U.S.-based retail giant Amazon, company officials and analysts said Thursday. Line, a popular messaging app in Japan, has more than 80 million users. Yahoo Japan is Japan's largest internet portal operator with more than 50 million users. Lee Hae-jin, Naver's founder and global investment officerWhen the deal is completed, the Japanese-Korean mega-platform ― with more than 100 million users ― will span the messenger, search, finance and retail sectors among other services.“We are considering the merger (with Yahoo Japan) as part of efforts to enrich enterprise value,” a Line official said.She noted, however, that “nothing has been decided yet.” Naver owns 73 percent of Line while SoftBank Group has a 45 percent stake in Z Holdings, a parent company of Yahoo Japan. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Naver and SoftBank are considering setting up a new 50-50 joint venture that would bec

Nov 14, 2019By Jun Ji-hye

Naver to create global internet platform with SoftBank

LG Chem asks ITC to make early ruling against SK Innovation

An email sent from SK Innovation to its employees on April 30 shows that the company ordered its employees to remove documents related with LG Chem. / Courtesy of LG ChemBy Baek Byung-yeulLG Chem is asking the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to make a default judgment or an early ruling against SK Innovation, claiming SK has concealed evidence of infringing on its battery-making patents, the battery maker said Thursday.The LG Group affiliate said it found over 34,000 of files and emails recently that show SK Innovation tried to tamper with the evidence that it stole its battery-making trade secrets.“We requested the USITC to make a default judgment as we found that SK Innovation destroyed evidence that it infringed and stole trade secrets of LG and didn't follow the USITC's digital forensics orders,” the company said.The local battery makers have been in a legal feud over batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).In April, LG Chem filed a pair of lawsuits with the USITC and a U.S. court against SK Innovation for allegedly stealing confidential business information

Nov 14, 2019By Baek Byung-yeul

LG Chem asks ITC to make early ruling against SK Innovation

UiPath pitching for robotics process automation

Baek Seung-heon, customer success director at UiPath Korea, speaks during a press conference at COEX in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of UiPath KoreaBy Baek Byung-yeulUiPath is seeking to increase the number of corporate clients for its robotics process automation (RPA) tools as more companies are trying to improve the overall performance of their employees and achieve cost savings by automating mundane tasks, the company said Thursday.RPA is a technology to help organizations easily automate their routine work. The U.S.-based software firm has the largest market share in the sector.The company launched its Korean unit in February 2018 and has been trying to increase the number of its customer companies here.Baek Seung-heon, customer success director at the Korean unit, said private financial companies such as Hana Financial Group and KB Financial Group and major conglomerates such as Hyundai, LG and Lotte are increasingly adopting its RPA software tools.“Though Korea is a bit behind the United States in terms of RPA adoption rate many private financial companies and major conglo

Nov 14, 2019By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung partners with Watcha to expand HDR content

Videos offered by Watcha Play are displayed on the screen of Samsung's QLED TV. Samsung Electronics said it will expand next-generation HDR content in cooperation with Watcha. / Courtesy of Samsung ElectronicsBy Jun Ji-hyeSamsung Electronics has formed a partnership with domestic video streaming service provider Watcha, in a bid to expand the next-generation high dynamic range (HDR) content, the Korean tech giant said Wednesday. HDR10+ technology optimizes brightness and maximizes the contrast ratio, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker. The feature is available on all UHD TV and 2019 8K TV models, including Samsung's lineup of QLED TVs.Watcha operates a movie and video streaming service, Watcha Play.“As HDR has been emerging as one of the most important technologies for ultra-high picture quality, it has become crucial to cooperate with video streaming service providers such as Watcha,” said Lee Hyo-gun, an executive vice president of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to enhance our influence in the global televisio

Nov 13, 2019

Samsung partners with Watcha to expand HDR content

Mobile carriers, GSMA to stop trafficking of stolen phones

Yang Hwan-jeong, third from left, vice chairman of the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT), and Chris Li, center, outreach director of the IMEI Blacklist Service at GSMA, pose for a photo with officials from SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus at the KAIT building in Seoul, Wednesday, after signing an MOU to launch the GSMA's We Care campaign in Korea. / Courtesy of KAITBy Jun Ji-hyeThe Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), Wednesday, to launch the GSMA campaign here to protect consumers who lose their mobile devices or have them stolen, by blocking their illegal use.Under the GSMA's We Care campaign, the nation's three mobile carriers ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― will share information on lost or stolen devices with the GSMA blacklist, allowing reported phones to be blocked both at home and abroad.The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.“It is meaningful

Nov 13, 2019

Mobile carriers, GSMA to stop trafficking of stolen phones

YouTube seeks to nurture game content creators in Korea

YouTube officials and game content creators who were selected to join YouTube's creator support program, pose during a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of YouTube KoreaBy Baek Byung-yeulYouTube is trying to take advantage of Korea's game industry, running a support program for rookie creators of content about games, the video streaming platform of Google said Wednesday. Korea is one of the world's leading countries both in the game developing sector and professional esports industry.The world's biggest video streaming platform said it operated its creator supporting program NextUp for 12 YouTube creators who mainly produce content related with online games.The 12 creators were chosen from 160 applicants to participate in the three-day creator camp, where they learned how to create better videos, get more subscribers and use high-quality video production equipment. Ines Cha, head of top creators, public figures and gaming partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region at YouTube, said the company decided to focus on nurturing gaming YouTubers here to ride on the country's str

Nov 13, 2019By Baek Byung-yeul

YouTube seeks to nurture game content creators in Korea

Samsung launches mobile video conferencing in US

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphone users take part in a video conference. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics By Baek Byung-yeulSamsung has launched a low-cost but high-quality video conferencing application in the United States, which is exclusively available on high-end devices such as the Galaxy S10 5G and the Note 10 Plus 5G, the company said Monday.The tech company said the video conferencing app is a collaborative project between itself, U.S. mobile carrier Verizon and video conferencing company BlueJeans Network.The mobile-based video conference service mainly targets enterprise customers as it enables them to lower their costs for the infrastructure for online meetings.“The new system brings together the intelligent video conferencing of BlueJeans and the power of Verizon's advanced 4G and 5G networks to offer a lower cost yet high-quality alternative for team collaboration,” the company said.BlueJeans has sold its video conferencing service but the applic

Nov 12, 2019By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung launches mobile video conferencing in US

LG Uplus, Kakao roll out joint navigation service

Moon Hyun-il, left, who is in charge of LG Uplus' mobile services, and Ahn kyu-jin, an executive director at Kakao Mobility, celebrate the launch of the two companies' joint navigation service, Tuesday. / Courtesy of LG Uplus By Jun Ji-hyeLG Uplus and Kakao Mobility jointly released a new navigation service Tuesday, taking the first step toward their technical cooperation in the promising future mobility sector. The launch of the U+ Kakao Navi service came after the mobile carrier and the Kakao subsidiary in charge of transportation services signed a memorandum of understanding in September to establish an autonomous driving environment and develop fifth-generation (5G) network-based services in the traffic-related field.The telecom company said it will apply a “zero-rating” policy to its LTE and 5G subscribers to enable them to use the new navigation service without data deductions from their monthly cap.Through the cooperation, LG Uplus will be able to significant

Nov 12, 2019By Jun Ji-hye

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