my timesThe Korea Times

Business

Tech & ScienceCompaniesBanking & FinanceMost respected CEOsAPEC 2025Others
  • Companies

    Will Homeplus liquidation decision be postponed again?

    Homeplus has submitted an amended rehabilitation plan just three days before a court deadline, but its failure to secure a crucial 200 billion won ($129 million) capital injection is increasing uncertainty over whether the troubled retailer will face liquidation, industry sources said Wednesday. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court will now assess the feasibility of the revised proposal to determine whether to continue with rescue proceedings or dissolve the company. Although the current deadline expires this Friday, expectations are rising that the court will defer the date once more to review the new submission. The country’s second-largest retail chain, controlled by private equity firm MBK Partners, filed for corporate rehabilitation on March 4 last year after struggling with financial difficulties and facing credit rating downgrades. The original deadline for court approval of its rehabilitation plan was March 4 this year, but the court first extended it to May 4 before granting an additional extension until this Friday. Bankruptcy law dictates that a rehabilitation scheme must receive appr

    3 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    Will Homeplus liquidation decision be postponed again?
  • Tech & Science

    SK hynix finishes filing for US depositary share offering

    2 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    SK hynix finishes filing for US depositary share offering
  • Companies

    Renault Korea's June sales plunge 45 % on weak demand

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Renault Korea's June sales plunge 45 % on weak demand
  • Companies

    GM Korea's June sales rise 6.6% on robust overseas demand

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    GM Korea's June sales rise 6.6% on robust overseas demand
  • Companies

    Hyundai Motor's global sales down in June on weaker demand

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Hyundai Motor's global sales down in June on weaker demand
Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
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.

Read more

Tech & Science

Bio industry urges US to exempt Korea from proposed pharmaceutical tariffs

The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KBIO) said Wednesday it has requested the United States to exempt Korea from the Donald Trump administration's plan to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical imports. KBIO said it submitted such an opinion formally to the U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday (U.S. time) regarding an ongoing investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which is examining the national security implications of pharmaceutical imports. Washington launched the probe on April 1 and has sought public input from stakeholders. President Trump has said he will announce tariff measures on pharmaceuticals in the coming weeks. The organization emphasized that Korea is a reliable partner in the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain and plays a key role in making high-cost prescription drugs more affordable. Citing recommendations by the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology last month, the Korean bio trade group noted that the commission had stressed the importance of collaborating with allied countries to stabilize the pharmaceutical supply cha

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Bio industry urges US to exempt Korea from proposed pharmaceutical tariffs
Tech & Science

Samsung SDI becomes only Korean award winner in The Smarter E Europe

Samsung SDI said Wednesday it has received two awards for its uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system battery product U8A1 and its no thermal propagation (No TP) technology during The Smarter E Europe 2025 trade show in Munich, Germany. The battery maker was the only Korean award winner at the largest energy exhibition in Europe. Among the global companies participating in the event, Samsung SDI was also the only winner of multiple awards. The Smarter E Europe grants awards to innovative products and technologies across five categories — energy storage, e-mobility, photovoltaics, smart energy and outstanding projects. A total of 14 products and technologies were selected as finalists this year. U8A1, the newest UPS battery, won in the energy storage category. Samsung SDI said the battery is designed to supply emergency power to data centers for artificial intelligence during outages. The company said the product improves space efficiency for data center operators, as it increases output by more than 40 percent per rack compared to previous models. The company's No TP won in the e-mobi

May 7, 2025By Park Jae-hyuk
Samsung SDI becomes only Korean award winner in The Smarter E Europe
  • Samsung SDI batteries target European interest in AI
Companies

Bio Korea 2025 kicks off in Seoul to explore future of biohealth industry

Bio Korea 2025, Korea's largest health and pharmaceutical industry trade fair, kicked off Wednesday, bringing together some 750 companies from across the world to showcase the latest technological innovations and trends in the bio sector. The annual trade show, now in its 20th year, opened at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in southern Seoul for a three-day run under the theme "Innovation and Cooperation, Shaping the Future Together," according to its organizers. Some 30,000 visitors are expected to take a look around 429 booths operated by 323 companies worldwide, the organizers said. In the business partnering program, major global and Korean biopharmas will take part, including Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Celltrion Inc. and SK bioscience. This year's event will explore developments in the biohealth sector driven by artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies, and recent industry trends, such as new modalities and anti-aging. "To help Korea emerge as a global hub for the biohealth industry, the government will actively promote the de

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Bio Korea 2025 kicks off in Seoul to explore future of biohealth industry
Companies

Outside directors at Korean firms overrepresented by academics, ex-bureaucrats: survey

Outside directors at Korean companies are disproportionately represented by those with a background in academia and the government, a survey showed Wednesday, raising concerns over a lack of board-level business expertise compared with global competitors. According to the survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) last year on 160 corporate outside directors, 36 percent said they came from academia, while 14 percent had a background in the government. The survey showed only 15 percent had executive business backgrounds, which was in stark contrast with companies in the United States and Japan. At S&P 500 companies in the United States, 72 percent of outside directors had business experience, while that figure stood at 52 percent among Nikkei 225 firms in Japan. The KCCI attributed the trend in Korea to local regulations under the Fair Trade Act, which classifies a company owned by an outside director as an affiliate of a large business group unless exempted. Industry watchers say this rule effectively deters entrepreneurs from joining boards of listed companies.

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Outside directors at Korean firms overrepresented by academics, ex-bureaucrats: survey
Companies

SK chairman apologizes for telecom unit’s massive data breach

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won apologized on Wednesday for SK Telecom's recent data breach, which could potentially affect approximately 25 million customers of the mobile carrier. "We have recently caused inconvenience and concern to the public and our customers due to SK Telecom’s data breach," Chey said. "I offer my sincere apology on behalf of SK Group." Chey appeared before the public about two weeks after the data breach threw the country into confusion. SK Telecom, whose customers account for nearly half of the country’s population of 52 million, detected a cyberattack on April 18 and found signs of a large-scale leak of customers’ universal subscriber identity module (USIM) data. The telco announced the incident on April 22. The exact scale of the breach and its resulting damage remain unclear. In response, SK Telecom has urged its customers to use its USIM protection service. This service blocks a USIM from connecting to the network if the identifier data sets do not match. Additionally, the company is offering free USIM card replacements to all of its customers. However,

May 7, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
SK chairman apologizes for telecom unit’s massive data breach
Banking & Finance

Kakao Bank logs largest-ever earnings in Q1

Online lender Kakao Bank said Wednesday its net profit hit a record high in the first quarter of the year on increased non-interest income and a steady rise in its customer base. Its net profit came to 137 billion won ($99.1 million) in the January-March period, up 23.6 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit surged 23.3 percent to 183 billion won over the cited period. Revenue gained 9.3 percent on-year to 785 billion won. The company attributed the sharp increase in its earnings to a steady rise in non-interest income and more customers. Its non-interest income came in at 282 billion won, up 33 percent from a year earlier, while its interest income declined 0.6 percent on-year to 503 billion won over the cited period. Its loans to households stood at 42.02 trillion won at the end of March, up 1.83 trillion won from a year ago. The company said its number of customers had stood at 25.45 million as of end-March, up from 24.88 million from three months earlier. Its monthly active users hit 18.9 million, according to the bank.

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Kakao Bank logs largest-ever earnings in Q1
Business

Industry minister says Czech court ruling delays nuclear deal signing, yet other procedures continue

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said Wednesday that a Czech court's decision to temporarily block a multibillion-dollar nuclear power plant deal with Korea will only delay the official signing, while other procedures will continue as planned. On Tuesday, the regional court in Brno issued an injunction preventing the country's main electricity firm, CEZ, from signing the estimated 26 trillion-won ($18.6 billion) contract with a Korean consortium led by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) until it reviews a legal complaint filed by France's EDF, a losing bidder in the tender. "Only the formal contract signing has been postponed due to the administrative court's ruling, but all other procedures will proceed as scheduled," Ahn told reporters upon arriving in Prague. KHNP had been scheduled to finalize the agreement later Wednesday with Elektrarna Dukovany II (EDU II), a subsidiary of CEZ. The Korean consortium was named the final winner last week, about nine months after it was selected as the preferred bidder for the project to build two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at Dukovany Nuclear Po

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Industry minister says Czech court ruling delays nuclear deal signing, yet other procedures continue
Companies

Overseas branches of Korean insurers return to black in 2024

Overseas branches of Korean insurance companies saw their net income turn to the black last year on the back of increased revenues and a base effect, data showed Wednesday. The 44 overseas businesses of four life insurers and seven nonlife insurance firms here posted a combined net profit of $159 million last year, swinging from a loss of $14.3 million the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The financial regulator attributed the rebound in their net profit to increased revenues and the base effect. In 2023, severe natural disasters, such as the wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui, together with Typhoon Mawar that hit the U.S. territory of Guam, had caused a sharp decline in their profit. Nonlife insurance firms logged a net profit of $95 million last year, and life insurers posted a combined net profit of $64 million. Their assets reached $7.34 billion at the end of last year, up 14.3 percent from a year ago, according to the watchdog.

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Overseas branches of Korean insurers return to black in 2024
Others

Czech court temporarily halts nuclear plant deal with S. Korea: reports

A Czech court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the government in Prague from signing a multibillion-dollar agreement with South Korea for the construction of two nuclear reactors, according to multiple reports, making it highly unlikely that an official contract will be concluded this week. A South Korean consortium led by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) had been scheduled to finalize the deal on Wednesday with Czech state-run energy company Elektrarna Dukovany II (EDU II), a subsidiary of the country's main electricity firm, CEZ. However, according to multiple Czech media reports, the regional court in Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city, issued an injunction preventing CEZ from signing the estimated 26 trillion-won (US$18.6 billion) contract until it reviews a legal complaint filed by France's EDF, a losing bidder in the tender. Last year, both EDF and another bidder, U.S.-based Westinghouse, filed complaints with the anti-monopoly office, Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (UOHS), over the government's selection process. In October, however, the UOHS rejec

May 6, 2025By Yonhap
Czech court temporarily halts nuclear plant deal with S. Korea: reports
Companies

Trump's drug tariff plan likely to intensify pressure on Korea-US trade talks

United States President Donald Trump resumed his tariff-based pressure on Tuesday, saying that he plans to announce pharmaceutical tariffs “within the next two weeks.” The scope and potential impact of the drug tariffs on Korean industries remain unclear, but Trump’s mention of a specific timeframe is seen as an indication that Washington is accelerating tariff negotiations with its trade partners, including Korea. The push came amid ongoing working-level talks between the trade authorities of the two countries, centered around what Korea calls a "July package" — a set of trade deals aimed at mitigating the effects of Washington's proposed "reciprocal" and item-specific tariffs. As the U.S. moves to accelerate negotiations, concerns are growing over Korea’s weakened bargaining power amid a vacuum in its political leadership. While signing an executive order to incentivize prescription drug manufacturing in the U.S., Trump revealed the pharmaceutical-specific tariff plan. His administration announced last month that it had launched a Section 232 investigation into the impact of

May 6, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Trump's drug tariff plan likely to intensify pressure on Korea-US trade talks
previous page
495496497498499
next page

Most Read in Business