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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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Companies

Hanwha eyes global leadership on 73rd anniversary

Hanwha Group marked its 73rd anniversary on Thursday, reaffirming its ambition to become a world-leading enterprise. Even after tripling its combined market value this year, Chairman Kim Seung-youn stressed that the group should not become complacent but continue to pursue bold innovation and technological excellence. “Our goal now is to become a global leader,” the chairman said in his address to celebrate the anniversary. “We must embrace our responsibility as one of Korea’s leading corporations and take the lead in every field.” Emphasizing the key factors for success like clear-eyed judgment on international dynamics, rapid networking and bold overseas expansion, Kim urged the company to build on Hanwha’s proven success and expertise in the shipbuilding and defense sectors throughout the entire organization. The chairman also underscored the necessity of securing world-class proprietary technologies across the group’s major business areas, such as defense, shipbuilding, energy and machinery. “For a latecomer to become a frontrunner, the key is to develop proprietary t

Oct 9, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Hanwha eyes global leadership on 73rd anniversary
Banking & Finance

Woori Bank launches loan for promising regional industries under president’s productive finance push

Woori Bank introduced a new loan program aimed at fostering promising industries outside the Seoul metropolitan area, in line with President Lee Jae Myung's drive to shift toward productive finance, the bank said Thursday. The program is part of Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong’s broader 80 trillion won ($56 billion) plan to expand productive and inclusive finance. Of that total, 16 trillion won is earmarked to nurture advanced strategic industries in regional areas. Through this initiative, the bank seeks to strengthen region-specific financing support. The Lee administration has made productive finance a central pillar of its financial policy, aiming to revitalize the Korean economy by redirecting funds previously tied to real estate or dependent on interest income toward advanced industries. In line with this vision, Woori Bank’s new loan program offers preferential interest rates and expanded credit limits for promising companies based outside the capital region. Regional enterprises recommended by public institutions or industry associations, as well as those engaged

Oct 9, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
Woori Bank launches loan for promising regional industries under president’s productive finance push
Companies

PHOTO Samyang chief at Anuga 2025

Kim Jung-soo, center, vice chair of Samyang Foods' parent company Samyang Roundsquare, poses with Melik Bektas, chief commercial officer of French retail distributor SRG International, at Samyang Foods' booth at Anuga 2025 in Cologne, Germany, Oct. 4 (local time), after the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding to distribute the Korean company's popular Buldak instant noodle products in France. Buldak products are currently being distributed in Europe by local supermarket firms, including Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, Rewe in Germany and Tesco in the United Kingdom. On left is Korea's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung. Courtesy of Samyang Roundsquare

Oct 9, 2025By Ko Dong-hwanphoto
[PHOTO] Samyang chief at Anuga 2025
Business

EU tariff plan deals additional blow to Korean steelmakers

The European Union’s plan to introduce stronger tariff measures on imported steel is likely to deal a critical blow to Korean steelmakers, already reeling from increased duties imposed by the U.S. If the European tariff plan takes effect as proposed, Korean steelmakers are expected to face major challenges in their two largest markets. Seoul, which remains in a dispute with Washington over tariffs on key sectors including steel, now faces the additional task of negotiating with the EU to mitigate the impacts to domestic businesses. Calling it a safeguard measure to protect its steel industry, the European Commission on Tuesday (local time) proposed cutting tariff-free steel import quotas by almost half to 18.3 million tons, along with a doubling of the out-of-quota duty to 50 percent. The proposal is awaiting approval from the European Parliament and EU governments before it takes effect. According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), Korea last year exported 3.93 million tons of steel worth $4.48 billion to EU nations. The figure tops the country’s global steel mark

Oct 9, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
EU tariff plan deals additional blow to Korean steelmakers
Banking & Finance

Card issuers on alert over potential delinquencies following gov’t credit amnesty

Credit card companies are expressing concern over potential risks to credit quality following the government’s recent large-scale credit amnesty, industry officials said Thursday. While around 290,000 people are now eligible to receive new credit cards under the amnesty, historical trends indicate a significant chance many of these individuals will become delinquent again. On Sept. 30, financial authorities implemented an amnesty, reinstating the credit of individuals and small business owners who have fully settled overdue debts. The program applies to overdue debts of up to 50 million won ($35,000), acquired from January 2020 through August this year, that are either already repaid or will be paid in full by the end of the year. The latest amnesty will restore the credit of some 3.7 million people, including 2.95 million individuals and 750,000 small business owners. Credit for 2.58 million people will be reinstated immediately, and delinquencies will be erased. Those who have yet to repay their debts in full will see their credit scores increase, as long as overdue amounts are settle

Oct 9, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
Card issuers on alert over potential delinquencies following gov’t credit amnesty
Tech & Science

LG accelerates global AI infrastructure push at Data Centre World Asia 2025

LG Electronics is ramping up its efforts to lead artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, presenting its integrated One LG solution for AI data centers with LG CNS and LG Energy Solution at this year’s Data Centre World Asia (DCWA). The three affiliates joined Asia’s largest data center exhibition, held in Singapore on Wednesday and Thursday, running a joint booth for the first time to showcase their unified portfolio of high-efficiency technologies. The One LG integrated solution responds to soaring AI infrastructure needs through the group’s combined expertise, already delivering concrete results such as a major hyperscale project in Jakarta, Indonesia. “With our differentiated thermal management systems, design, building and operating capabilities, and robust power solutions, the One LG integrated solution positions us to proactively lead in the rapidly growing AI data center market,” Lee Jae-sung, vice president of LG Electronics’ Eco Solution business division, said. At the exhibition, LG Electronics introduced advanced, high-efficiency cooling systems for AI data ce

Oct 9, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
LG accelerates global AI infrastructure push at Data Centre World Asia 2025
Companies

Lotte chairman stresses importance of biologics as growth driver for group

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin stressed the strategic importance of its biopharmaceutical business to the conglomerate’s growth during his visit to a U.S. biologics plant earlier this week. According to the group Thursday, Shin visited Lotte Biologics’ Syracuse Bio Campus in New York on Sunday and inspected antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing facilities at the plant. It was Shin’s first visit to the site since it began ADC production in April. “I expect the Syracuse Bio Campus to serve as a new growth engine, not only for Lotte Biologics but for the entire group,” Shin said. “As the company expands its ADC production facilities, it should accelerate efforts to secure additional ADC contracts and other contract development and manufacturing orders so that it can strengthen its global competitiveness.” The Syracuse plant is the key manufacturing base for Lotte Biologics, which was established in 2022 as a biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO). Lotte Biologics acquired the Syracuse plant in 2023 from Bristol Myers Squibb and has since

Oct 9, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Lotte chairman stresses importance of biologics as growth driver for group
Business

Korea's coffee bean imports spike 13% year-on-year in 2024

Korea's imports of coffee beans jumped sharply from a year earlier in 2024, with imports this year widely expected to reach an all-time high, customs data showed Thursday. Imports of coffee beans, including both raw and roasted products, came to $1.24 billion last year, up 13 percent from $1.1 billion the previous year, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS). In terms of volume, imports gained 5.7 percent year-on-year to 194,809 tons in 2024. Brazil accounted for 21 percent of the country's annual import value and 30 percent of import volume. Colombian and Vietnamese coffee ranked second and third, respectively, shipping 29,835 tons and 29,781 tons of beans to Korea last year. Coffee imports are widely expected to reach a record high this year, with inbound shipments in the first eight months of the year already nearing the annual total of 2024. Imports in the January-August period reached $1.17 billion, up 31 percent from the same period last year, the data showed. "If the current pace continues, this year's overall coffee imports are expected to surpass last year's total," a KCS of

Oct 8, 2025By Yonhap
Korea's coffee bean imports spike 13% year-on-year in 2024
Tech & Science

NC AI unveils vision to boost K-content with game-driven AI

With artificial intelligence (AI) transforming key industries worldwide, NC AI, the AI affiliate of game giant NCSOFT Corp., is positioning itself to lead South Korea's content sector by leveraging its gaming-tech expertise, company officials said Wednesday. Its vision is to democratize creativity and accelerate the global spread of K-content, tapping into a media AI market projected to soar from $8.21 billion in 2024 to over $51 billion by 2030, according to the officials. At the core of NC AI's strategy is the VARCO multimodal AI series that can process text, voice, image and 3D data to automate creative tasks. Among its most representative applications is multilingual dubbing. The company's voice-acting AI can translate videos into multiple languages while preserving the original actor's tone and emotion. This enables automatic multilingual dubbing from a single video, cutting the cost and time of localizing Korean dramas and films overseas by more than 90 percent. Beyond dubbing, NC AI offers tools that automate the full production pipeline, from generating text-based sound effects to

Oct 8, 2025By Yonhap
NC AI unveils vision to boost K-content with game-driven AI
Companies

InterviewFarmer fears mad cow disease following possible broader US imports

HAPCHEON, South Gyeongsang Province — The owner of a high-profile cow farm in South Gyeongsang Province is opposed to wider imports of U.S. beef. Byun Jung-il believes that allowing the import of some kinds of American beef would increase the risk of Korean consumers being exposed to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a zoonotic infection also known as mad cow disease. Korea has had a ban on the import of beef from U.S. cows aged 30 months or older in place since 2008, following widespread protests over the safety of such imports. The Donald Trump administration, amid ongoing tariff negotiations with Korea, is seeking to turn the tables by demanding that Seoul lift the ban. Both countries reached an initial agreement in late July to leave the bilateral livestock trade conditions intact. However, subsequent ministerial meetings between Seoul and Washington suggest that the issue remains on the table. Byun, looking after over 160 head of domestic cattle, known as hanwoo, at Daemyung Livestock Farm in Hapcheon, suggests that lifting the ban would result in a higher risk of BSE infec

Oct 8, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
Farmer fears mad cow disease following possible broader US imports
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