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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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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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Banking & Finance

Hana Financial to spend $70 bil. on AI, exports, inclusive finance

Hana Financial Group plans to spend 100 trillion won ($70 billion) over five years to strengthen artificial intelligence (AI) financing and assist exporters, small businesses and low-income groups, it said Thursday. The initiative is part of the group’s efforts to advance what it has termed a “Korea Premium” era where finance is elevated as a national growth driver beyond profit-seeking. The drive is one of the largest private-led financial projects in Korea, with a focus away from household mortgage financing and toward more productive, inclusive and innovation-driven investments. The group’s bank, brokerage, capital, insurance and venture capital subsidiaries will be mobilized for the unified growth strategy. Woori Financial announced a similar plan on Sept. 29. “This is more than setting a target — this is a statement of future direction,” said Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo. “We are committed to reshaping finance into a vehicle that truly supports people and progress.” Of the total planned expenditure, 84 trillion won will be spent to bolster “productiv

Oct 16, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Hana Financial to spend $70 bil. on AI, exports, inclusive finance
Banking & Finance

Mirae Asset's Global X surpasses $73 bil. in US assets under management

Mirae Asset Global Investments’ exchange-traded fund (ETF) arm Global X has reached $73.5 billion in assets under management (AUM) in the United States, the company said Thursday. The milestone comes seven years after Mirae Asset acquired the firm in 2018, during which Global X’s assets have grown 13-fold, cementing its status as one of the top managers in the world’s largest ETF market. As of Wednesday, Global X oversees 101 ETFs in the United States with total assets of $73.5 billion. At the time of the acquisition in 2018, the company’s AUM was around $10 billion, which rose to $42.4 billion by the end of 2023 and $53.9 billion by the end of 2024. The latest total represents a 13-fold increase, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 37.7 percent over the past five years — nearly double the U.S. ETF market’s average of 20.2 percent during the same period. Global X has been recognized by U.S. investors for its distinct and forward-looking ETF product lineup. Its flagship "Global X Defense Tech (SHLD US)" ETF has posted a strong performance compared with peers, driven by a

Oct 16, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
Mirae Asset's Global X surpasses $73 bil. in US assets under management
Companies

Korea is one of most important strategic partners in Asia: Airbus top executive

Calling Korea one of the most strategic partners in Asia, the head of Airbus Korea said Thursday that Airbus will continue contributing to the country’s industrial growth in aerospace and defense. “In 2024, Airbus carried out multiple projects worth hundreds of billions of won with Korea’s leading aviation and defense players, such as Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Korean Air and LIG Nex1, and we will further expand these partnerships as Korea’s strategic importance continues to rise,” Airbus Chief Representative Korea Lee Hee-hwan said during a press conference in Seoul. The event took place ahead of the upcoming Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2025, scheduled to run for five days starting Monday. Airbus plans to showcase its latest aircraft and a range of advanced aviation technologies at the event. Korea currently operates more than 160 Airbus commercial airplanes, 60 helicopters and 30 military transport aircraft. According to the Airbus executive, the country has forged multilateral partnerships with Airbus in areas such as the joint develop

Oct 16, 2025By Lee Min-hyung
Korea is one of most important strategic partners in Asia: Airbus top executive
Companies

Supreme Court eases control risk for SK chairman in divorce ruling

A Supreme Court decision Thursday to send back a lower court ruling on SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s divorce from his estranged wife, Roh Soh-yeong, for recalculation of the settlement amount has partially eased uncertainty over his control of Korea’s second-largest conglomerate. The top court's decision overturned a key reason behind the Seoul High Court’s May ruling that favored Roh. The lower court had accepted her claim that her father, former President Roh Tae-woo, had supported SK Group through an illegal slush fund worth 30 billion won ($22 million), thereby recognizing her contribution to the couple’s marital assets and ordering Chey to pay her 1.38 trillion won ($970 million). The Supreme Court ruled that the former president’s actions — even if proven — cannot be legally recognized, and that the money cannot be considered Roh's contribution when determining the division of assets. Given this, the high court is expected to take a closer look at the alleged slush fund and recalculate the couple’s marital property. ‘Sunkyong — 30 billion won’ The divorce c

Oct 16, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Supreme Court eases control risk for SK chairman in divorce ruling
Companies

Data breach scandals drag down telecoms’ Q3 earnings

The telecom sector is bracing for a steep drop in third-quarter earnings as the fallout from a series of cybersecurity incidents continues to weigh, with the combined operating profit of the three major telecoms — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — expected to slip below the 1 trillion won ($705 million) mark. According to financial data provider FnGuide, the three carriers’ aggregate third-quarter operating profit is projected at around 829.2 billion won, a roughly 33 percent fall year-on-year from more than 1.24 trillion won. The main reason behind the slump is SK Telecom’s large-scale leak of the universal subscriber identity module (USIM) data of nearly 27 million users. Analysts warn that the company could post its first quarterly loss since it began releasing earnings, with regulatory fines, compensation payouts and customer losses from the data breach dragging down its overall performance. The company’s third-quarter revenue is estimated at about 3.94 trillion won and operating profit at 43.7 billion won, plunging 12.96 percent and 91.8 percent, respectively, from the same pe

Oct 16, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Data breach scandals drag down telecoms’ Q3 earnings
Companies

PHOTO Partnership for West Coast Energy Expressway project

HD Hyundai Electric CEO Kim Young-ki, third from left, poses with Niklas Persson, second from left, managing director of Hitachi Energy's grid integration business unit, after signing a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the Korea-Sweden Sustainable Partnership Summit at Grand Hyatt Seoul, Thursday. The two companies agreed to cooperate in the high-voltage direct current transmission business to provide the Korean government with a transmission system for the West Coast Energy Expressway project. Courtesy of HD Hyundai Electric

Oct 16, 2025By Park Jae-hyukphoto
[PHOTO] Partnership for West Coast Energy Expressway project
Companies

SK Enmove makes inroads into India's lubricant market

SK Enmove, the lubricant manufacturing unit of SK Innovation, said Thursday it has signed an agreement with Gabriel India, an affiliate of Indian automotive components maker Anand Group, to establish a joint venture in India. The Korean company will hold a 51 percent stake in the new entity, SK Enmove Gabriel India, while the Indian firm will own the remaining 49 percent. With the joint venture, SK Enmove aims to expand its presence in the world's third-largest automobile market with the world's largest population of 1.42 billion. "The joint venture will work to strengthen its sales network and market the brand," SK Enmove said in a press release. "Following its establishment in December, the new company plans to offer a range of products from engine oil and industrial lubricants to specialized lubricants for electric vehicles." Anand Group has set up 13 joint ventures with global companies such as HL Holdings and Henkel, building sales networks throughout India. In partnership with SK Enmove's high-quality products and technological expertise, both companies plan to establish a foundati

Oct 16, 2025By Park Jae-hyuk
SK Enmove makes inroads into India's lubricant market
Companies

Supreme Court approves suspended prison sentence for Hyosung chief

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's suspended prison sentence for Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, seven years and nine months after he was indicted for embezzlement and other charges. Cho was indicted in January 2018 on multiple charges, including incurring 17.9 billion won ($12.6 million) in losses for a Hyosung subsidiary, making an illicit profit of 1.2 billion won through art transactions and paying 1.6 billion won in salaries to false employees. A district court handed out a two-year prison sentence to Cho in 2019 but the Seoul High Court granted a suspended prison sentence after acquitting him of most charges the following year. He was convicted only on the charge of embezzling 1.6 billion won from company coffers. Approving the appellate court's two-year prison sentence, suspended for three years, for Cho, the Supreme Court said there was no error or misunderstanding of the legal principles in the lower court's verdict.

Oct 16, 2025By Yonhap
Supreme Court approves suspended prison sentence for Hyosung chief
Tech & Science

Startup Mindlogic scales smart chatbots for global impact

Mindlogic, a tech startup co-founded by two former McKinsey consultants, is carving out a distinct position in the crowded artificial intelligence (AI) market with smart AI-powered chatbot services for both consumers and enterprises. Founded in 2019, the company leverages generative AI to deliver tailored chatbot services, including Persona, a celebrity-trained chatbot for personalized user interaction, and Informe, a multilingual information agent for universities and public institutions, as well as FactChat, a multi-large language model platform. “In 2018, it started to become clear that AI technology was beginning to find practical, real-world uses … We realized that an AI capable of holding conversations like a human would soon be possible,” Mindlogic co-CEO Kim Yong-woo said during a recent interview with The Korea Times, at the company’s office in southern Seoul. “Our goal has been to build AI that brings people not just enjoyment, but real help; something that people genuinely want to interact with and that becomes a real companion in conversation.” The company’s fla

Oct 16, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Startup Mindlogic scales smart chatbots for global impact
Companies

BGF Retail to export CU products to China

The operator of the country’s major convenience store brand CU will export its private brand products to China, opening the door to the country’s vast consumer market of over 1.4 billion people. BGF Retail’s latest move builds on its ongoing effort to expand globally through CU’s private brand food products. To date, the company has exported these products to 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Vietnam and Mongolia. BGF Retail CEO Min Seung-bae on Wednesday met Shi Chenjia, CEO of Ningshing Ubay, at the Korean firm’s Seoul office and signed a memorandum of understanding for the partnership. Through the deal, BGF Retail will export its private brand products to "China’s largest importer of foods, beauty products and electronics,” the Korean firm said. With the partnership, Ningshing Ubay, specializing in e-commerce, will distribute BGF Retail’s private brand products to China’s major online retail platforms. The Chinese firm will also promote the products through live commerce and collaboration with influencers on social media

Oct 16, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
BGF Retail to export CU products to China
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