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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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Banking & Finance

Seoul shares rise for 3rd day; tariff talks in focus

Korean stocks finished slightly higher Monday as investors await upcoming tariff negotiations with the United States. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.0 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 2,488.42, extending its winning streak to a third session. Trade volume was slim at 423.58 million shares worth 5.18 trillion won ($3.66 billion), with winners beating losers 499 to 370. Individuals and institutions purchased a net 185.52 billion won and 23.79 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while foreigners sold a net 288.35 billion won worth of stocks. The index opened a tad lower and had moved within a tight range throughout the session. Eyes are on the tariff talks to be held in Washington on Thursday (U.S. time), following the Donald Trump administration's announcement of a 90-day pause on the 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on Korean imports. Korea is among the first nations to sit down with the U.S. for the crucial negotiations, with Japan having begun its talks last week. Acting President Han Duck-soo acknowle

Apr 21, 2025By Yonhap
Seoul shares rise for 3rd day; tariff talks in focus
Tech & Science

10,000 square meters of coral restored with Samsung help

Samsung Electronics said Monday that its coral restoration project, conducted in partnership with ocean environmental organizations, has helped restore more than 10,000 square meters of coral in the past year. Marking the first anniversary of the “Coral in Focus” project, Samsung said a total of 17 3D models of coral reefs were completed, laying the groundwork for the regeneration of coral reef habitats across the world. Based on the models, 11,046 new corals were planted, leading to the restoration of 10,705 square meters of coral reef area, which is equivalent to about 25 basketball courts. Since last year, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, the U.S. nonprofit organization Seatrees and Samsung have been conducting the project together. It focuses on restoring damaged major coral reef habitats, including those in the waters near Florida, Bali in Indonesia and Viti Levu in Fiji. Instead of heavy and bulky underwater cameras, divers used the Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones to capture underwater images of coral reefs to monitor their current

Apr 21, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
10,000 square meters of coral restored with Samsung help
Companies

Korea pushing to export largest amount of rice to Japan in 35 years

Korea plans to export 22 tons of rice to Japan, the largest volume in 35 years, following a surge in rice prices in the neighboring country, a trade company said Monday. The Japan office of Korea's NH Trading Co. imported 2 tons of Korean rice products last month, according to company officials. NH Trading is a subsidiary of Seoul's National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, better known as Nonghyup. The company plans to import an additional 10 tons of rice next month and another 10 tons in the future, the officials said. It marks the first time the Japanese office of NH Trading has purchased rice from Korea. It will also mark the largest amount of Korean rice at 22 tons exported to Japan since 1990, when the government began keeping a record of such data. The two countries' rice trade plan comes amid surging grain prices in Japan over the past year sparked by poor harvests and other reasons.

Apr 21, 2025By Yonhap
Korea pushing to export largest amount of rice to Japan in 35 years
Tech & Science

Trump tariffs threaten to delay Korean developers’ console gaming ambitions

With U.S. President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs expected to push up retail prices of major video game consoles, concerns are growing that this may slow down Korean game developers’ efforts to enter the market. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, video game consoles and machines were not included in the Trump administration’s tariff exemptions for the tech sector, thus placing the Nintendo Switch 2, Sony PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Xbox Series X and S under higher tariffs. If the measures take full effect after the ongoing 90-day reprieve on the tariffs ends, consoles manufactured in countries like China and Vietnam will face up to 145 percent additional duties. As a result, Nintendo has delayed preorders for the Switch 2 from when they were originally scheduled to begin on April 9 and announced last week that they would begin instead on April 24. The Japanese game giant said the new game machine will cost $449.99 in the U.S., the same price first announced on April 2, but added that future changes in cost are possible for “any Nintendo product.” Sony a

Apr 21, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Trump tariffs threaten to delay Korean developers’ console gaming ambitions
Tech & Science

Naver acquires Yanolja F&B Solutions

Tech giant Naver has acquired Yanolja F&B Solutions, a digital solutions company, to enter Japan's food service industry. Naver’s Japanese subsidiary, Naver J.Hub Corp., bought out the food service provider at around 10 billion won ($7.04 million), obtaining full control over the company. The acquisition reflects the company's effort to secure its competitiveness in the food service tech market. The subsidiary has been involved in various equity investments and technical collaborations over the past several years, supporting Naver’s global business operations. Naver's acquisition negotiations with Yanolja F&B Solutions gained momentum this year. The food service company owns numerous business-to-business services, including queue management service Nowwaiting, food ordering platform yaOrder and customer marketing service Dodo Point. The company, which was originally founded as Nowbusking, adopted its current name after Yanolja acquired its management in 2020. Before Yanolja's acquisition, Kakao was its major shareholder. The company built its reputation as a digital solutions provider

Apr 21, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Naver acquires Yanolja F&B Solutions
Banking & Finance

Seoul shares open tad higher amid tariff woes

Korean stocks opened slightly higher on Monday as the country is set for negotiations with the United States over the sweeping tariff scheme. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.61 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,489.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Seoul's industry ministry said Sunday that the government plans to kick-start tariff negotiations with the Donald Trump administration later this week in Washington. Korea was slapped with 25 percent reciprocal tariffs, though the U.S. paused its implementation for 90 days. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 0.36 percent, and chip giant SK hynix added 0.51 percent. Top biotech firm Samsung Biologics rose 0.38 percent, while leading battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 0.74 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 0.64 percent, and its sister affiliate Kia grew 1.26 percent. No. 1 portal operator Naver soared 1.44 percent, while leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings decreased 0.59 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,418.85 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 4.45 won from the previous

Apr 21, 2025By Yonhap
Seoul shares open tad higher amid tariff woes
Business

S. Korea, US to hold 2+2 trade talks Thursday: acting president

South Korea and the United States will hold "2+2" trade talks involving their finance and trade ministers in Washington on Thursday, acting President Han Duck-soo said, in what will be the first round of high-level negotiations to ease U.S. tariffs. The meeting, scheduled for 8 a.m. (local time), or 9 p.m. in South Korea, will bring together Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun from the South Korean side and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer from the U.S. side, Han said during a government meeting Monday. Immediately following the talks, Ahn and Greer will hold separate discussions. "Our government will direct all of our strength to finding a win-win solution for the two countries by holding calm and serious discussions with the U.S. under the principle of putting top priority on our national interest," Han said, citing in particular the three key areas of trade balance, shipbuilding and liquefied natural gas, mentioned during his recent phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. "The consultation process with the U.S. wi

Apr 21, 2025By Yonhap
S. Korea, US to hold 2+2 trade talks Thursday: acting president
Companies

POSCO, Hyundai Motor groups form partnership in steel amid US tariff threats

POSCO Group and Hyundai Motor Group marked an unusual alliance, with the former investing in a U.S. plant construction for the latter's steelmaking subsidiary, Hyundai Steel. The agreement between Korea's two largest steelmakers comes amid the Donald Trump administration's 25 percent tariff on steel imports. Although both companies have been cautious about linking the investment directly to the U.S. tariffs, they cited the rapidly changing global trade environment as the main reason behind the partnership. The steelmaking group said Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the automotive group to cooperate in the steel and rechargeable battery sectors. Under the MOU, the two groups will jointly invest in the construction of an electric arc furnace-based integrated steel mill, set to be built in Louisiana by 2029. The facility is expected to begin operations the same year, supplying 2.7 million tons of steel plates annually to global carmakers. They did not disclose how much POSCO will contribute to the $5.8 billion project. Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun

Apr 21, 2025By Park Jae-hyuk
POSCO, Hyundai Motor groups form partnership in steel amid US tariff threats
Business

Korea's exports of dried seaweed hit record high in Q1

Korea's exports of dried seaweed products, known as "gim" in Korean, reached an all-time high in the first quarter, driven by growing global demand for the food, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments of gim reached $281 million in the first three months of the year, up 21.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. The figure is the highest for any first quarter. The volume of gim exports increased 7.5 percent on-year to 10,161 tons in the January-March period. "We expect to export more than $1 billion worth of gim products this year as the volume and value of outbound shipments are both on the rise," an official from the oceans ministry said. The government earlier sought to reach the $1 billion mark by 2027. Korea exported $997 million of gim products last year. The oceans ministry attributed the strong exports to the popularity of Korean gim products in the United States and China, the world's two largest markets. Gim exports to the U.S. rose 21.6 percent on-year to $57.9 million in the first quarter on robust demand for s

Apr 21, 2025By Yonhap
Korea's exports of dried seaweed hit record high in Q1
Companies

Kia’s top salesman focuses on compact sedans, SUVs for sales milestone

Kim Yoo-hyun, a sales "great master" at Kia, has adopted a strategy of maximizing sales for compact sedans and SUVs for his target customers, the elderly, who often have less purchasing power than other age groups. He became the carmaker’s 12th "great master" by achieving accumulated sales of more than 5,000 cars over the course of 32 years. The title is the company's highest honor, given to those who attain high sales figures. Kim is based in Yeongdo District in the southern port city of Busan. The elderly population is higher Busan than in Seoul or any other metropolitan area in Korea. “I focused on selling compact vehicles, such as the Morning, K3 small sedans and the Sportage compact SUV,” he said during a telephone interview. “Demand for such low-priced vehicles remains high in the region.” He joined Kia in 1993, and by February 2025, he had sold 5,016 cars, which is approximately 156 vehicles a year. Kim keeps in contact with his customers even after the sale is complete by helping them with their auto maintenance. “When I get a phone call from customers complaining about

Apr 21, 2025By Lee Min-hyung
Kia’s top salesman focuses on compact sedans, SUVs for sales milestone
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