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    Samsung, SK chip investment timelines leave room for adjustment

    Samsung Electronics and SK hynix announced a combined 800 trillion won ($516.4 billion) investment commitment to establish advanced chip plants in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province in Korea's southwest, but stopped short of providing a timeline for when the investments will be made or construction will begin, leaving room to adjust their spending plans until the long-term memory chip cycle becomes clearer. According to the government and the chipmakers, Samsung and SK will each invest 400 trillion won to build two advanced memory fabrication each in the region, for a total of four new fabs as part of the government’s “three megaprojects for Korea’s leap forward.” Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong named Gwangju as the candidate site, while SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won referred to the region as a whole. While announcing the massive plans while standing with President Lee Jae Myung, who have been urging the chipmakers to make investment in the southwestern region, the leaders refrained from specifying timelines for the new fabs. The companies also did not mention

    4 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    Samsung, SK chip investment timelines leave room for adjustment
  • Banking & Finance

    KakaoBank lands 4 papers at leading AI conferences

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    KakaoBank lands 4 papers at leading AI conferences
  • Companies

    LG Electronics to establish control tower for robotics business

    2 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    LG Electronics to establish control tower for robotics business
  • Companies

    Incheon airport operator to halve employee parking permits

    3 MIN READBy Lee Min-hyung
    Incheon airport operator to halve employee parking permits
  • Companies

    Court grants JTBC time for autonomous restructuring amid liquidity crisis

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Court grants JTBC time for autonomous restructuring amid liquidity crisis
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Banking & Finance

Banks slash hiring despite record earnings amid digital overhaul

Sung Chang-min, an office worker in his 50s, feels anxiety watching his son delay college graduation in pursuit of increasingly scarce banking jobs. “He was supposed to graduate last year, but banks had already cut back on hiring,” Sung said. “Since being unemployed after graduation doesn’t look good on a resume, he decided to put it off for another year, hoping his chances would improve as bank earnings have been rising. But the situation only got worse.” Sung referred to the country’s four largest commercial banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori — which collectively plan to hire just 725 new employees in the second half of 2025. Combined with recruitment from the first half of the year, the four banks plan to recruit only 1,185 people in 2025, down 10 percent from the 1,320 new jobs created in 2024 and 37 percent less than the 1,880 hired in 2023. KB Kookmin Bank has steadily reduced its hiring, from 420 people in 2023 to 290 in 2025. During the same time span, Shinhan Bank recruitment numbers dropped from 500 to 190, Hana Bank from 460 to 320, and Woori Bank from

Oct 21, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Banks slash hiring despite record earnings amid digital overhaul
Companies

US eases cash demand in $350 bil. investment talks: minister

YEONGJONGDO — South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Monday the United States has shown signs of softening its stance on demanding that Seoul make its entire $350 billion investment commitment in cash, suggesting substantive progress in ongoing trade negotiations. "It is not to that extent," he told reporters upon arrival from the U.S., when asked whether Washington is still insisting that Korea make the full $350 billion investment in cash payments. "If things had gone that far, the negotiations would have already fallen through. But the U.S. side has, to a considerable extent, accepted our views," he added. Kim visited the U.S. last week for follow-up talks on the bilateral framework tariff agreement reached in late July. He met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other trade officials to narrow differences over details of Korea's investment pledge, including financing methods and profit allocation. "The issue related to our foreign exchange market was the biggest hurdle (in the talks), but the two sides have reached a broad consensus," he said. U.S. President Do

Oct 20, 2025By Yonhap
US eases cash demand in $350 bil. investment talks: minister
Tech & Science

Fortnite, Snapchat among major apps to go dark in global AWS outage

Amazon's cloud services unit AWS was hit by an outage on Monday that took down several popular apps including Fortnite and Snapchat and caused connectivity issues for many companies around the world. AWS said it was seeing increased "error rates and latencies" for multiple services. "We are working on multiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery," it said in its latest update. The AWS outage is the first major internet disruption since last year's CrowdStrike malfunction that hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports globally. AWS provides on-demand computing power, data storage and other digital services to companies, governments and individuals. Disruptions to its servers can cause outages across websites and platforms that rely on its cloud infrastructure. AWS competes with Google's and Microsoft's cloud services. AWS directed Reuters to its status page when requested for a comment. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment. Perplexity, Coinbase, Prime Video down AI startup Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the ou

Oct 20, 2025By Reuters
Fortnite, Snapchat among major apps to go dark in global AWS outage
Companies

Montana governor visits Seoul in search of business ties

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte met with Korean industry leaders and government officials Monday to seek synergy between the nation's industrial capabilities and the U.S. state’s business-friendly policies. The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) hosted a welcome reception for Gianforte and more than 40 representatives from Montana’s state government, major local companies and academic institutions. It marked the largest business delegation to Korea from the state. On the Korean side, more than 40 officials attended from Hyundai Motor, Hyosung Heavy Industries, CJ, Poongsan, Pan Ocean and quantum technology companies including IBM Korea and Qunova. The event was organized to promote exchange and networking aimed at expanding economic cooperation between Korea and Montana. Korea was the second-largest trading partner of the U.S. state in 2024, purchasing over $335 million in industrial machinery, coal, beef and wheat. Montana is known for its mineral and agricultural industries, but in recent years it has been transforming its economic structure toward future-oriented industries. In 202

Oct 20, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Montana governor visits Seoul in search of business ties
Tech & Science

Samsung set to power Galaxy S26 models with in-house Exynos 2600

Samsung Electronics is set to power several variants of the upcoming Galaxy S26 family with its in-house application processor (AP) Exynos 2600, in an apparent expression of confidence in its foundry capability. Industry sources said Monday Samsung Electronics has recently decided to use its Exynos 2600 AP for the upcoming S26 series in a number of markets, reviving its two-chip strategy. Samsung Electronics officials declined to comment on the matter. In recent years, Samsung has used its Exynos chips alongside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors for the Galaxy S series, except for the S23 and S25 series. The S23 series exclusively adopted the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 after mass production of the Exynos 2300 was canceled, and the S25 series relied solely on the Snapdragon 8 Elite due to low yield rates of the Exynos 2500. The sidelining of Exynos 2500 came as a critical blow to Samsung’s foundry and chip designing divisions, whose accumulated losses in recent months undermined the overall profitability of the company’s semiconductor business. During the second-quarter earnings call in July,

Oct 20, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung set to power Galaxy S26 models with in-house Exynos 2600
Companies

Britain's BP tapped as preferred bidder for Korea's deep-sea gas project: sources

The Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) has tapped British oil major BP as the preferred bidder for Korea's project to develop oil and gas prospects in the East Sea, industry sources said Monday. KNOC reached the internal decision last week and is in talks with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources before officially announcing the bidding result, according to the sources familiar with the matter. The Korean company opened the bid in March to find a foreign partner who will have up to 49 percent of the stake in the project aimed at developing seven potential oil and gas reserves in the deep sea off the coast of Yeongil Bay in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. KNOC conducted its first exploratory drilling into the "blue whale prospect," one of the seven prospects, for nearly two months since December and concluded the prospect does not have economic feasibility. KNOC earlier said it will newly establish a business plan for the deep-sea gas development project after it selects a preferred bidder, including whether to conduct an additional exploratory drilling of the potential reserves.

Oct 20, 2025By Yonhap
Britain's BP tapped as preferred bidder for Korea's deep-sea gas project: sources
Companies

Kolmar Korea selected for government AI factory initiative

Original development manufacturer (ODM) Kolmar Korea has been selected by the government to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) manufacturing system for beauty products to maximize productivity and further diversify offerings for global cosmetic brands. The global ODM firm said Monday it will implement the new AI system at its existing manufacturing bases in Sejong, as well as in the United States, Canada and China. Kolmar Group’s other subsidiaries in health supplements, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic packaging will also implement the system. The AI system represents an advancement of the company’s current smart factory production, which centers on automation. According to the company, the AI factory will be able to initiate or halt production on its own based on real-time data, optimizing efficiency and reducing manufacturing costs. Kolmar Korea said the project follows its selection by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources for the government’s AI Factory Alliance initiative. The initiative aims to transition the country’s manufacturing bases across key industries to

Oct 20, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
Kolmar Korea selected for government AI factory initiative
Companies

KAI, Airbus expand aerospace, defense cooperation with MOU

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), Monday, with global aerospace leader Airbus to expand cooperation in the defense and aerospace sectors. The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition 2025 (AEDX 2025) at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. KAI acting CEO Cha Jae-byoung, Anand Stanley, president of Airbus for the Asia-Pacific region, and Airbus Chief Representative Korea Lee Hee-hwan attended the event. The two companies said they plan to explore collaboration across various aerospace fields, including special mission aircraft, high-speed medium-lift helicopters, KF-21 and FA-50 aerial refueling flight tests and military satellite communication capabilities. The MOU also opens the door for cooperation in emerging technologies and the pursuit of new joint projects, with the goal of developing a long-term, comprehensive business partnership. KAI said it has worked with Airbus for 20 years in defense and aerospace, building trust through joint development, technology cooperation and indus

Oct 20, 2025By Kang Seung-woo
KAI, Airbus expand aerospace, defense cooperation with MOU
Tech & Science

Korea’s 1st commercial space vehicle cleared for launch, likely in November

Innospace, a Korean space startup, is expected to launch its first vehicle, HANBIT-Nano, likely in November, marking the country’s first attempt to send a commercial space vehicle into low Earth orbit (LEO). Innospace said Monday that it has recently received commercial launch approval for its SPACEWARD mission from the Korea AeroSpace Administration. With this approval, the company has completed all necessary procedures and has begun final preparations for the launch at Brazil’s Alcantara Space Center. For the launch, Innospace has set a launch window from Oct. 28 to Nov. 28. The launch window refers to the period during which the actual launch can take place. Initially, it was set for Oct. 28 to Nov. 7, but was extended to Nov. 28 after coordinating launch inspection procedures, mission stability and joint operation schedules with the Brazilian Air Force. Innospace said the upcoming launch will also mark the first commercial vehicle launch from a Brazilian space center, adding that Brazilian authorities have provided active support to ensure optimal conditions and a stable launch.

Oct 20, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Korea’s 1st commercial space vehicle cleared for launch, likely in November
Banking & Finance

Risk-heavy bitcoin falls while gold soars

Gold is soaring, largely driven by investors flocking to safe-haven assets, while risk-filled bitcoin is taking a dive, market watchers said Monday. The precious metal is expected to continue its monthslong record-breaking rally, unlike cryptocurrencies, which are expected to tank to $70,000 amid a cyclical downturn. “Investors are turning to traditional safe-haven assets, prodded by global trade tensions and heightened geopolitical risks,” Standard Chartered Korea strategist Hong Dong-hee said. “Months of uncertainties involving U.S.-China trade relations have driven demand for gold. Further, central banks are increasing their gold reserves, indicating the precious metal’s strength as a hedge asset in times of uncertainty.” In addition, an increasing number of investors are attracted by the limited volatility of gold, Hong said. “Gold investors tend not to seek immediate short-term rapid gains, compared to equity or crypto investments, for example. Rather, an increase in holdings of gold signals that it is considered a reliable source of investment during unstable market co

Oct 20, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Risk-heavy bitcoin falls while gold soars
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