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    Samsung considers appealing UK ruling over Swatch watch face suit

    Samsung Electronics said Thursday it is considering “all possible countermeasures, including an appeal” to a U.K. High Court’s decision to pay Swatch Group $11.6 million in damages for hosting smartwatch watch face designs that replicated the Swatch brands on its Galaxy app store. “We are carefully considering the High Court's judgment and will consider all possible countermeasures, including an appeal,” Samsung said in a statement. The High Court in London ruled Wednesday (local time) that Samsung should pay damages to the Swiss watchmaker as watch face apps developed by third parties have copied watch face designs of Swatch brands such as Breguet, Blancpain, Omega, Longines and Tissot. The ruling was for far less than the $170 million (235.7 billion won) in damages that Swatch Group initially sought, but far higher than Samsung’s claim that it gained only $300 by selling the watch face apps and that Swatch did not suffer any damage. According to local media reports, the court ruled that the majority of the damages were specifically for display infringement that harmed Swatc

    2 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    Samsung considers appealing UK ruling over Swatch watch face suit
  • Companies

    K-pop group RESCENE propels Narangd Cider sales up 48%

    2 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    K-pop group RESCENE propels Narangd Cider sales up 48%
  • Tech & Science

    Korea to launch homegrown Nuri rocket on Oct. 7

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korea to launch homegrown Nuri rocket on Oct. 7
  • Companies

    Google fuels Korea's AI surge with expanded training

    2 MIN READBy Lee Kyung-min
    Google fuels Korea's AI surge with expanded training
  • Companies

    AMCHAM, Speak highlight AI's role in developing global workforce

    2 MIN READBy Lee Gyu-lee
    AMCHAM, Speak highlight AI's role in developing global workforce
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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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Banking & Finance

Korea Eximbank partners with Mongolia to boost Korean consumer goods exports

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) signed a memorandum of understanding with Mongolia's Trade and Development Bank (TDB) to provide a $30 million on-lending facility aimed at boosting exports of Korean consumer goods, the state-run lender said Sunday. Under the arrangement, Korea Eximbank will extend financing to TDB, which will then lend the funds to local importers purchasing Korean products. The indirect financing scheme is intended to improve access to trade finance while supporting bilateral commerce. The agreement comes as demand for Korean consumer goods and K-culture continues to grow in Mongolia. TDB, which operates more than 90 branches nationwide, serves a broad base of importers of Korean food, beverages, cosmetics and other products. The facility marks Korea Eximbank's first on-lending program for Mongolia since the country's 2017 foreign exchange crisis. The lender said it expects the program to help Korean exporters expand their presence in the market while easing funding constraints for companies already operating there. Leveraging TDB's nationwide network,

Jul 12, 2026By Park Han-sol
Korea Eximbank partners with Mongolia to boost Korean consumer goods exports
Companies

SK hynix dollar inflow expected to bolster Korea's FX market

SK hynix Inc. is expected to inject a large amount of U.S. dollars into Korea's foreign exchange market after raising about 40 trillion won ($26.5 billion) through an American depositary receipt (ADR) offering on Nasdaq, industry sources said Sunday. The proceeds from the U.S. listing are scheduled to be paid to the company Monday. Given that SK hynix plans to use most of the funds for domestic investments, including the Yongin semiconductor cluster, much of the dollar-denominated proceeds is expected to be converted into the won, increasing the supply of dollars in the local foreign exchange market. The inflow is expected to ease pressure on the Korean won, which has remained weak against the dollar amid broad dollar strength and rising overseas investment by Korean companies, according to the sources. "The size and timing of the foreign exchange transactions have yet to be determined," an SK hynix official said. Market experts said the expected inflow is comparable in scale to the dollar liquidity supplied under the $60 billion currency swap deal between the Bank of Korea and the U.S. F

Jul 12, 2026By Yonhap
SK hynix dollar inflow expected to bolster Korea's FX market
Companies

Samsung Electronics to bring forward opening of 1st Yongin chip plant to 2029

Samsung Electronics Co. is moving to begin operations at the first semiconductor fabrication plant in its Yongin chip cluster in 2029, one to two years earlier than planned, industry sources said Sunday. The accelerated timeline comes as the government speeds up development of the Yongin National Industrial Complex, a national strategic project set to serve as the company's next-generation semiconductor manufacturing hub. Samsung is currently planning to begin operations in 2029 at the first of six semiconductor plants to be built at the Yongin industrial complex, just south of Seoul, according to the sources. "An earlier start of operations at the first plant will enable Samsung to respond more quickly to rapidly growing global demand for artificial intelligence chips," an industry official said. Separately, the chipmaker said last month that, under its mega project investment plan, it plans to invest 2,030 trillion won ($1.35 trillion) in its Pyeongtaek and Yongin semiconductor clusters, along with 400 trillion won to build two new chip plants in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul.

Jul 12, 2026By Yonhap
Samsung Electronics to bring forward opening of 1st Yongin chip plant to 2029
Tech & Science

D4D Hackathon lays foundation for defense AI ecosystem in APAC

Deploy for Defense (D4D) Hackathon APAC successfully completed its inaugural event in Seoul, laying the foundation for a defense artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in the region. According to D4D, Sunday, it hosted the hackathon event from July 3-5, with more than 200 builders and officials from academia and defense AI companies including Palantir Technologies, Stealth Mole and BONE AI. The event awarded eight teams across five tracks. A team from BONE AI won the autonomous and unmanned systems track. Teams DoS and ANGAE won in the defense intelligence category, while DELPHI, SEASIDE and Nyx were recognized in battlefield networks, maritime domain awareness and combat readiness, respectively. Supporty and Kestrel also received special awards linked to an Oregon-based UAS accelerator program in the United States. Organizations from Oregon are scheduled to visit Korea on July 14 to sign a memorandum of understanding, marking the first case in Korea in which a domestic hackathon resulted in a direct U.S. market entry. “Korea's defense industry has long been defined by the export succe

Jul 12, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
D4D Hackathon lays foundation for defense AI ecosystem in APAC
Business

Eco-friendly cars account for half of new car registrations in H1

Eco-friendly vehicles accounted for half of new car registrations in Korea in the first half of this year, driven by a sharp increase in electric vehicle (EV) sales, an auto market tracker said Sunday. It marked the first time that eco-friendly vehicles made up more than half of new car registrations during the January-June period, according to the CarIsYou Data Research Center, which cited government data. In the first six months of the year, registrations of eco-friendly vehicles — including battery electric, gasoline hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell models — totaled 429,163 units, accounting for 50.4 percent of the 851,833 newly registered vehicles, the data showed. The share of eco-friendly vehicles has risen steadily, from 9.1 percent in 2020 to 25.5 percent in 2023 and 38.5 percent in 2025. Meanwhile, the share of gasoline-powered vehicles fell to 39 percent in the first half, dropping below the 40 percent mark for the first time since 2016, when the figure stood at 39.9 percent. Robust EV sales drove the overall increase in eco-friendly vehicle registrations. EV registrations surge

Jul 12, 2026By Yonhap
Eco-friendly cars account for half of new car registrations in H1
Companies

SK hynix rises nearly 13% in debut on Wall Street as demand for memory chips soars amid AI frenzy

NEW YORK — Shares of Korean memory chipmaker SK hynix rose 12.8 percent as they made their debut on Wall Street, at a time demand for chips is surging thanks to the frenzy around artificial intelligence. The company is already one of the largest in Korea, along with Samsung Electronics, and is a member of the Kospi index. Even with a recent pullback, the country's Kospi index is up 77 percent so far this year and SK hynix shares have more than tripled. SK hynix priced its American depositary receipts, or ADRs, at $149 each Thursday. They opened Friday at $170 and closed at $168.01. The offering of 177.9 million ADRs raised proceeds of $26.5 billion, making it the biggest-ever initial share sale in the U.S. by a foreign company. An ADR is issued by a bank or broker and is a simplified way for U.S. investors to own foreign stocks through the U.S. markets. SK hynix is going public in the U.S. amid a surge in IPO proceeds. There were 48 IPOs raising a total of $104.8 billion during the second quarter, according to Renaissance Capital. It is the biggest quarter for deal proceeds in five ye

Jul 11, 2026By AP
SK hynix rises nearly 13% in debut on Wall Street as demand for memory chips soars amid AI frenzy
Companies

Nasdaq debut 'historical moment,' expects huge AI investment

WASHINGTON -- SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said Friday that South Korean chip giant SK hynix's debut on the tech-heavy Nasdaq is a "historical moment" and a "dream come true," expressing his expectation for the group's large-scale investment in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. Chey made the remarks during a CNBC interview after the chipmaker made its Nasdaq debut through the listing of its American depositary receipts. "First of all, this is a truly historical moment, and we've been waiting for a long, long time," he said. "SK acquired hynix 15 years ago. So it's kind of a dream come true." Aside from memory chip production, Chey pointed out his expectations for his conglomerate's investments in the broader AI industry. "I am expecting at least ... tens of billions of dollars for the AI side," he said. "We are talking about just memory chips, but I am looking at large investments in AI, AI data centers, technologies and startups, or joint ventures with my partners," he said. "I'm expecting huge investments sooner or later." He stressed that the Nasdaq debut will give SK hynix a n

Jul 11, 2026By Yonhap
Nasdaq debut 'historical moment,' expects huge AI investment
Companies

LNG reemerges as strategic fuel for Korea's AI, chip ambitions

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is regaining strategic importance as the government reassesses its energy mix to support massive investments in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and semiconductor manufacturing, while a prolonged global boom in LNG strengthens prospects for the country's broader LNG supply chain. Seoul is reconsidering LNG's domestic role after previously planning to reduce its share in the country's power mix under long-term decarbonization targets. Growing electricity demand from AI infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing has renewed focus on LNG-fired power generation as a flexible backup source to balance the intermittency of renewable energy. The government is expected to consider a sharp increase in the share of LNG power in a new electricity plan, which will be drawn up later this year. It is also said to be reviewing a proposal to meet part of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix’s planned semiconductor cluster’s 6.3-gigawatt power demand in the southwestern region with LNG combined-cycle plants. Executives have also called for greater policy support fo

Jul 11, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
LNG reemerges as strategic fuel for Korea's AI, chip ambitions
Banking & Finance

Hong Kong retail investors reel as SK hynix ETF swings turn painful

When Emily Yang, a 30-year-old office worker in Hong Kong, invested more than 100,000 Hong Kong dollars in a leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF) linked to SK hynix in late June, she thought she was buying into one of the world's strongest artificial intelligence (AI) stories. Instead, within a week, nearly half of her investment had disappeared. "Everyone around me was talking about AI and how strong SK hynix's prospects were," Yang said. "Its memory technology looked more competitive than Samsung's, and the valuation didn't seem expensive considering its earnings growth. But now I really regret following the crowd." Now deeply underwater, Yang says she no longer knows what to do. "Selling now would mean locking in heavy losses, while averaging down feels too risky. All I can do is wait," she added. Yang is far from alone. A wave of retail enthusiasm over AI has turned leveraged products linked to Korea's largest chipmakers into one of Asia's hottest trades this year. At the center of the frenzy is the CSOP SK hynix Daily (2x) Leveraged Product, which briefly became the world's largest si

Jul 11, 2026By Yulu Ao
Hong Kong retail investors reel as SK hynix ETF swings turn painful
Companies

SK hynix lists ADRs on Nasdaq to expand global AI presence

SK hynix has listed its American depositary receipts (ADRs) on the Nasdaq stock market, marking a move to expand its presence in global capital markets and strengthen its position as a key supplier in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor ecosystem. The Korean memory chipmaker held an opening bell ceremony at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, New York, on Friday (local time) to commemorate the start of ADR trading. The event was attended by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Square Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, among other senior executives from the group and company. The offering consists of 177.9 million ADRs priced at $149 each, raising about 40 trillion won ($26.5 billion). Each ADR represents one-tenth of a common share listed on the Seoul stock market. ADRs are certificates issued by a U.S. depositary bank that represent shares of foreign companies and trade on U.S. stock exchanges. They allow overseas companies to access U.S. investors while enabling Americans to invest in foreign stocks without opening overseas accounts or deal

Jul 10, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
SK hynix lists ADRs on Nasdaq to expand global AI presence
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