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  • Companies

    Doosan on track for growth as portfolio aligns with AI industry

    Doosan Group is expected to post strong growth as its key businesses are increasingly aligned with the core supply chain of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. According to market tracker FnGuide, the consensus estimate among brokerages for Doosan Corp.'s second-quarter earnings is 5.5 trillion won ($3.62 billion) in sales and 465 billion won in operating profit, up 3 percent and 30 percent year-on-year, respectively. Doosan Corp. is the holding company of the conglomerate but is gaining market attention with its own electromaterials business, which supplies copper clad laminates (CCL) to chipmakers. CCL is a key material used in advanced chip substrates and printed circuit boards found in virtually all electronic devices. As AI servers and high-performance computing systems require fast processing of massive amounts of data, demand is growing for high-frequency, low-loss CCLs. In the first quarter of this year, the business group’s sales reached 617.3 billion won, growing 53.2 percent year-on-year to set a new record. Operating profit soared 59.9 percent year-on-year to stand a

    2 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    Doosan on track for growth as portfolio aligns with AI industry
  • Business

    Global memory chip market to quadruple in 2026: data

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Global memory chip market to quadruple in 2026: data
  • Companies

    BioTNS selected as host of gov't's ultra-precision digital PCR project

    2 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    BioTNS selected as host of gov't's ultra-precision digital PCR project
  • Companies

    Hyundai Rotem secures $487.3 mil. railway maintenance project in Morocco

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Hyundai Rotem secures $487.3 mil. railway maintenance project in Morocco
  • Banking & Finance

    Card issuers turn to small-business lending as consumer loan curbs squeeze growth

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Card issuers turn to small-business lending as consumer loan curbs squeeze growth
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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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Tech & Science

Korean bill seeks strict watermark mandate on AI-generated content

Lawmakers are seeking to tighten Korea’s new artificial intelligence (AI) rules with a bill that would mandate watermarks on AI-generated content and criminalize their removal, in a bid to close what they call a “blind spot” in transparency rules. The bill, introduced last week by Rep. Kim Dai-sik and nine other legislators of the main opposition People Power Party, seeks to amend the AI Basic Law (officially, the Framework Act on the Development of AI and the Creation of a Foundation for Trust), which took effect earlier this year. The current law requires AI service providers to notify users whenever highly realistic audio, images or video have been created by an AI system. However, it does not specify where that notice should be placed or what form it should take, so most services satisfy the rule only with a small caption or icon inside their own interface. But once secondary creators screenshot, crop or repackage that content, the label is often removed — and under the current law, those downstream actors are not clearly treated as violators for removing it. This gap allows

May 17, 2026By Jung Min-ho
Korean bill seeks strict watermark mandate on AI-generated content
Companies

KORAIL chief signals 1st fare hike in 15 years amid mounting debt

GWANGJU — The new head of state-run railway operator Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) said Thursday that the company’s worsening financial situation will require a fare hike in the future — the first in 15 years — as its debt has surpassed 21 trillion won ($14 billion). KORAIL CEO and President Kim Tae-seung, who took office in March, said at a press conference that current fare levels are insufficient to cover costs for the company’s 30,000 employees and the operation of the country’s high-speed rail system, KTX. “We’re now under a huge financial pressure, especially as we will provide a 10 percent discount and a 5 percent mileage bonus to users of KTX and SRT when we launch our integrated service with SR in September,” Kim said, referring to the country’s other state-run operator of high-speed rail service. “But we’ll first have to earn the public’s consent. The National Assembly and ministries will also have to support us for that.” The financial strain also threatens the company’s plan to replace aging train cars, a costly project. According to Kim, 46 trai

May 17, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
KORAIL chief signals 1st fare hike in 15 years amid mounting debt
Companies

NEOWIZ’s Round8 Studio accelerates hiring push after success of Lies of P

NEOWIZ’s Round8 Studio is ramping up recruitment as it expands a multititle development pipeline, with the studio emphasizing a hiring philosophy centered not only on technical skills but on applicants’ identity as gamers. Fresh off the global success of Lies of P on PC and console, the studio is entering an aggressive expansion phase, currently developing six distinct projects under multiple creative leads. The lineup includes a new title from Lies of P director Choi Ji-won and his team, known as Team NOUGH, alongside Project Rubicon led by Jin Seung-ho, Project Windi directed by Lee Sang-gyun, and Project CF,e among others. Each project is being developed with a distinct identity and gameplay direction. Round8 says the strong global performance of Lies of P was not merely the result of production scale or technical execution, but of what it describes as “authentic genre understanding” among developers who are themselves players of action and soulslike games. Soulslike refers to games inspired by the Souls series, defined by common elements such as high mechanical difficulty an

May 17, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
NEOWIZ’s Round8 Studio accelerates hiring push after success of Lies of P
Companies

Operating profits of top companies exceed $104 bil. in Q1

Operating profits at Korea's top companies exceeded 156 trillion won ($104 billion) in the first quarter of this year, with more than 60 percent generated by the country's two leading chipmakers, industry data showed Sunday. Combined operating profits for 328 of the nation's top 500 companies by sales reached 156.35 trillion won in the January-March period, up 158.6 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by corporate tracker CEO Score. Sales during the same period rose 29.4 percent on-year to 1,038 trillion won, up by 235.3 trillion won from a year earlier. The combined operating profit of the world's two largest chipmakers — Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. — totaled 94.8 trillion won By company, Samsung Electronics posted the largest operating profit at 57.2 trillion won, soaring 756.1 percent from a year earlier. The figure also surpassed the company's total annual operating profit of 43.6 trillion won recorded last year. SK hynix reported a first-quarter operating profit of 37.6 trillion won, up 405.5 percent from the same period last year.

May 17, 2026By Yonhap
Operating profits of top companies exceed $104 bil. in Q1
Companies

Samsung Electronics, labor union to resume talks ahead of planned strike

Samsung Electronics and its labor union will resume government-led mediation talks Monday, just three days ahead of a major planned strike, company and union officials said Saturday. The session will take place at the National Labor Relations Commission's office in Sejong, about 110 kilometers south of Seoul, after earlier mediation talks broke down Wednesday. The company's largest labor union plans to begin the 18-day strike next Thursday, which could disrupt production at the world's largest memory chipmaker. The union has said over 46,000 of its members have expressed willingness to join the strike. The talks are expected to be a last-ditch effort to reach a resolution to an impasse over bonus payouts. Labor and management remain sharply divided over performance-based bonuses tied to earnings from the company's artificial intelligence-related semiconductor business amid the ongoing memory supercycle. The planned resumption comes after the company replaced its chief negotiator Vice President Kim Hyung-ro at the union's request. Yeo Myung-koo, head of the company's Device Solutions divis

May 16, 2026By Yonhap
Samsung Electronics, labor union to resume talks ahead of planned strike
Companies

Samsung chairman calls for company unity amid looming strike

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong called for unity within his company Saturday as its union plans to begin a major strike next week amid an impasse in wage negotiations. "Now is the time to wisely gather our strengths and move in one direction," Lee said at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul after returning from an overseas business trip. "Union members, Samsung family members, we are one body, one family." Lee said he would take full responsibility and bear the "fierce rain and wind," while apologizing to the company's customers and to the public for causing concern over his company's "internal" matters. "I truly apologize to our global customers for causing worry and concern over our company's internal issues," he said, bowing multiple times. Lee's remarks come after the company's largest union said Friday it will proceed with the strike despite the company's proposal to resume talks without preconditions. The 18-day strike is set to begin next Thursday, which could disrupt production at the world's largest memory chipmaker. The union has said over 46,000 union members

May 16, 2026By Yonhap
Samsung chairman calls for company unity amid looming strike
Companies

Imported car brands bolster EV strategies amid oil price hike

Foreign automakers are bolstering their electric vehicle (EV) strategies, as surging oil prices rapidly accelerate demand for EVs with lower fuel costs. The trend is evident as more price-competitive EV models from Tesla and BYD are rapidly increasing their sales volume here. EVs from other mid-tier foreign carmakers are also gaining popularity with local customers. According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, BYD Korea ranked fourth in imported car sales between January and April with 5,991 EVs sold here. The figure represents growth of approximately 1,000 percent from 553 vehicles sold last year. Industry officials say that rising global oil prices linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have prompted more consumers to shift from internal combustion engine vehicles to all-electric alternatives. Jumping on the booming EV demand here, overseas automakers are preemptively building their own identity ahead of the mass adoption of EVs, in hopes of expanding sales. Data from the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association showed total EV sales here surging 15

May 16, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Imported car brands bolster EV strategies amid oil price hike
Companies

Court suspends FTC's designation of Coupang founder as 'same person'

A court has suspended the antitrust watchdog's designation of the founder of e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. as the company's de facto controlling entity, legal sources said Friday. Coupang Corp., the Korean unit of the U.S.-listed company, earlier filed a lawsuit and an injunction request with the Seoul High Court to overturn the Fair Trade Commission (FTC)'s designation of Kim Bom as the "same person" of the group last month. "Same person" is a legal term referring to the individual who effectively controls a conglomerate. Individuals designated as the same person are subject to tighter oversight by authorities, including disclosure requirements on intra-family transactions and rules governing holding company structures. The court suspended the FTC's action on Thursday ahead of a hearing on the injunction request slated for June 16, according to the sources. The suspension will be effective until July 15. Coupang had previously qualified for an exception allowing the company itself, rather than an individual, to be designated as the same person. The FTC said Coupang no longer meets key cond

May 15, 2026By Yonhap
Court suspends FTC's designation of Coupang founder as 'same person'
Companies

Samsung’s chip output cut feared to disrupt global supply chains

Samsung Electronics’ move to cut its chip output is fueling concerns over major disruptions to global customer deliveries, after the chipmaker failed to reach a wage agreement with its unions, industry officials said Friday. More than 43,000 unionized workers — mostly from the firm's Device Solutions Division, which oversees the company’s semiconductor business — are set to begin an 18-day strike on Thursday following the latest deadlock in negotiations. They are demanding fixed performance bonuses equivalent to 15 percent of the operating profit generated by the company’s semiconductor division, along with a removal of the payout cap. The output reduction is expected to strain the global semiconductor supply chain at a critical time when demand for memory chips — particularly high-bandwidth memory — far exceeds supply in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung is a major supplier of memory chips to global tech giants such as Nvidia, Apple, AMD, Google and Meta. Semiconductor manufacturers typically reduce their production in response to weakening market demand, in

May 15, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Samsung’s chip output cut feared to disrupt global supply chains
Companies

Nexon hits record Q1 earnings on global franchise growth

Nexon reported record first-quarter earnings, driven by strong global demand for its flagship franchises and accelerating growth outside traditional East Asian markets. The game giant posted revenue of 152.2 billion yen ($960.82 million) and operating profit of 58.2 billion yen, up 34 percent and 40 percent year-over-year, respectively. Its net profit jumped 118 percent to 57.2 billion yen, marking all-time quarterly highs across the three metrics. The results reflect Nexon’s push to expand globally, a strategy outlined in its Capital Markets Briefing (CMB) event in March. Revenue from North America and Europe surged 310 percent year-over-year, while other regions, including Southeast Asia, grew 111 percent, both reaching record growth. Overseas sales accounted for 62 percent of total revenue, offsetting weaker momentum in China. Growth was led by the MapleStory franchise and the extraction shooter title ARC Raiders, which helped diversify its revenue base. MapleStory franchise revenue climbed 42 percent from a year earlier, supported by robust global user growth for its newer titles, i

May 15, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Nexon hits record Q1 earnings on global franchise growth
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