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  • 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?
  • 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
  • Companies

    JoongAng Ilbo puts controlling rights up for sale amid creditor workout

    1 MIN READBy Jung Min-ho
    JoongAng Ilbo puts controlling rights up for sale amid creditor workout
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Business

S. Korea, US wrap up 'technical' discussions ahead of full-fledged trade talks

South Korea and the United States concluded two-day working-level "technical" discussions in Washington on Thursday to set the contours of their full-fledged talks over trade and economic cooperation issues, a source said, as Seoul is seeking exemptions from new U.S. tariffs. Chang Sung-gil, director-general for trade policy at the industry ministry, led the South Korean delegation to engage in discussions with officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The details of their discussions remain unknown, but the source described the talks as focusing on setting overall contours of the trade talks that will proceed in earnest down the road. The talks came after then Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and USTR Jamieson Greer for "two-plus-two" trade consultations on April 24. During the high-level talks, the two sides agreed to seek a "July package" agreement on trade and other related issues before July 8, when President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs ends. They also decided to

May 2, 2025By Yonhap
S. Korea, US wrap up 'technical' discussions ahead of full-fledged trade talks
Companies

SKT instructed to stop new sign-ups until USIM shortage resolved

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Thursday instructed SK Telecom to suspend new subscriber sign-ups until it resolves the ongoing universal subscriber identity module (USIM) shortage related to the company’s recent data breach. According to the ministry, it issued administrative guidance on the mobile carrier to prevent customer damages stemming from the data breach. The ministry also demanded SK Telecom submit a detailed implementation plan for its pledge to automatically apply USIM protection services to vulnerable users, as well as coming up with plans to compensate damages related to the incident. On April 22, SK Telecom announced that it had detected a breach in its internal system on April 18, and the company has been replacing USIM for its 23 million subscribers for free since Monday as a preventive measure. The USIM replacement program, however, triggered a nationwide disruption and consumer uproars as the company’s USIM inventory fell far short of demands. SK Telecom currently has 1 million in stock, and its CEO Ryu Young-sang said Wednesday that the company will be able to

May 1, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
SKT instructed to stop new sign-ups until USIM shortage resolved
Policy

Gov't to 'swiftly' implement $17.5 billion financing scheme for export firms

The government will work to "swiftly" implement 25 trillion won ($17.5 billion) of policy financing for export companies following the planned passage of an extra budget bill by the National Assembly, the finance ministry said Thursday. In a pan-government meeting on trade issues, the Ministry of Economy and Finance asked related agencies to thoroughly prepare for the execution of the extra budget bill, expected to be endorsed by the Assembly later in the day. Earlier in the day, the rival parties agreed to pass a 13.8 trillion-won extra budget aimed at revitalizing the economy and helping disaster response. With the envisioned budget, the government plans to provide some 25 trillion won worth of liquidity support to local companies hit by U.S. tariffs. Under the plan, the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea will offer 10 trillion won in trade financing to local exporters, and the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. will provide 2.4 trillion won worth of special trade insurance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to the ministry. The ministry said the government will continu

May 1, 2025By Yonhap
Gov't to 'swiftly' implement $17.5 billion financing scheme for export firms
Tech & Science

Kakao offers glimpse into its AI model's performance

Kakao on Thursday showcased the performance of its highly anticipated artificial intelligence (AI) model, Kanana, introducing Korea’s first multimodal large language model (LLM) that can simultaneously understand and process text, voice and images. On its official tech blog, the online platform giant unveiled the performance report of the multimodal model, known as Kanana-o. Kakao said Kanana-o is the country’s first AI model capable of understanding and processing various types of information simultaneously, including text, voice, and images. Users can input questions in any combination of the three, and the model generates a response with the appropriate text or voice based on the situation. Kanana-o was trained by learning image, audio and text data simultaneously, and uses speech emotion recognition technology to correctly interpret user intentions and analyze non-verbal signals, such as intonation, speech patterns, and voice trembling. This enables the model to generate contextually appropriate and coherent responses in a natural, human-like voice, the company noted. The multimo

May 1, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Kakao offers glimpse into its AI model's performance
Companies

Convenience store launches on-site visa assistance service for foreign residents

CU has launched on-site visa assistance services for foreign residents, becoming the first convenience store chain to do so, the company said Thursday. In partnership with K-VISA, the country's leading visa service provider, customers can now scan a QR code displayed at CU stores and fill out a short form to be immediately connected with a licensed immigration specialist for personalized support. The service supports four languages — English, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese — and allows users to track their application status in real time, from submission to final approval. A wide range of visa categories, including marriage, employment, investment, immigration and permanent residency, will be covered. CU distinguishes itself with competitive pricing, offering fees approximately 50 percent lower than the industry average. For instance, its visa extension services are available at the country's lowest rate of just 20,000 won ($13.96). The company said it aims to ease the administrative burden foreign nationals face. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of foreign residents

May 1, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo
Convenience store launches on-site visa assistance service for foreign residents
Companies

Profitability concerns persist over Czech nuclear deal

The Czech Republic's final decision to sign a nuclear reactor construction deal with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) next week has drawn renewed attention to how much Korean participants stand to earn from the project. Questions have arisen as Prague did not disclose the contract terms when it announced Wednesday that it will sign the final agreement with Seoul on May 7. Valued at 400 billion Czech koruna ($18 billion), the project is aimed at building two new reactors in the European country's Dukovany power plant. Prague only confirmed that it will finance the construction and acquire an 80 percent stake in a Czech state-owned company managing the project. Industry officials see the size of the technology royalty KHNP will pay to the United States' Westinghouse and the extent of Czech industry's participation as key factors determining the deal's profitability. KHNP is alleged to have agreed to guarantee Westinghouse a significant share of the profits whenever the Korean state-run nuclear operator exports reactors. The allegation surfaced after Westinghouse agreed in January to end

May 1, 2025By Park Jae-hyuk
Profitability concerns persist over Czech nuclear deal
  • Korea wins $18 bil. deal to build Czech nuclear power plant
Banking & Finance

Banks seek to attract young customers for future business

A growing number of commercial lenders are offering cash-equivalent vouchers to parents with children in order to lock in a possible future revenue stream, according to industry officials Thursday. Driving these efforts is the rapid loss of market share to internet-only peers, whose mobile app-based services are tailored to a young, digitally savvy demographic. Most traditional lenders are expanding promotional campaigns in which parents are given up to 70,000 won ($49.14) for opening savings or home subscription accounts under their children’s names. Woori Bank recently offered 50,000 won to parents for opening new accounts under the names of children born in 2024. It also offered an additional 20,000 won for parents opening a home subscription account, meant to help save towards future house purchases, under their children’s name. KB Kookmin Bank had a similar campaign where up to 30,000 won worth of mobile gift coupons were provided. The lender offered 10,000 won worth of coupons redeemable on Baemin, a food delivery app, to parents who opened savings accounts for children under 14

May 1, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Banks seek to attract young customers for future business
Companies

LS C&S contributes to US offshore wind power

LS Cable & System CEO Koo Bon-kyu, right, speaks about the offshore wind power industry's growth potential during the opening ceremony of the International Partnering Forum 2025 in Virginia Beach, Va., Tuesday (local time). He is the first-ever Korean keynote speaker for the largest offshore renewable energy conference in the Americas. The cable maker said Thursday it also received the Supply Chain Advancement Award at the forum, due to its contribution to the U.S. offshore wind power industry. Courtesy of LS Cable & System

May 1, 2025By Park Jae-hyukphoto
LS C&S contributes to US offshore wind power
Companies

Why heads of Korea's top 4 businesses skipped Trump Jr. meeting

As Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, left Seoul without meeting the heads of Korea’s four largest conglomerates — Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG — the country’s business community is now paying close attention to the reasons behind their absence from what was described as an opportunity to strengthen ties with the U.S. administration. During his two-day stay in Seoul from Tuesday to Wednesday, Trump Jr. met a dozen of Korea’s business leaders, including the owner family of Hanwha Group, Naver founder Lee Hae-jin, CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun and others. They reportedly explored ways to cushion the impact of U.S. tariff measures and business opportunities in the U.S. However, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo did not appear at the Seoul hotel where Trump Jr. stayed during his meeting with other Korean business leaders. Chung confirmed that he was outside of Korea at the time of Trump Jr.’s visit. Industry officials sa

May 1, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Why heads of Korea's top 4 businesses skipped Trump Jr. meeting
Tech & Science

LG Display announces world's 1st commercial phosphorescent blue OLED

LG Display has successfully verified the production performance of blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for a mass production line for the first time in the world, the company said Thursday. This success comes about eight months after the company developed an OLED panel based on a blue phosphorescence emitter with Universal Display Corporation (UDC), an important step towards the display makers' long-time goal of an OLED panel that implements all primary colors of light — red, green, and blue — using phosphorescence. OLED panel emission methods are largely divided into fluorescence and phosphorescence. Fluorescence, which is technically simpler, emits light through immediately reacting to electricity, but has only 25 percent luminous efficiency. On the other hand, phosphorescence briefly stores energy from electricity before emitting light, allowing for 100 percent efficiency. This technically more challenging method reduces power consumption by one-fourth compared to fluorescence. Red and green phosphorescence were commercialized 20 years ago, but the displ

May 1, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
LG Display announces world's 1st commercial phosphorescent blue OLED
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