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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
  • Banking & Finance

    Mirae Asset sets 150 tril. won target for digital asset business

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Mirae Asset sets 150 tril. won target for digital asset business
  • Companies

    SKT assembles AI security team to build cyber defense model

    2 MIN READBy Lee Kyung-min
    SKT assembles AI security team to build cyber defense model
  • Companies

    Hyundai Mobis showcases AI, robotics-based manufacturing technology with suppliers

    2 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    Hyundai Mobis showcases AI, robotics-based manufacturing technology with suppliers
  • Companies

    KT participates in TechSauce Global Summit 2026 in Bangkok with 12 partner startups

    2 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    KT participates in TechSauce Global Summit 2026 in Bangkok with 12 partner startups
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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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Companies

Seoul, Busan grapple with rising costs of seniors' free subway rides

Seoul and Busan are facing mounting financial pressure from providing free subway rides to designated groups, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of local governments' operation of the critical public transit system. The service, introduced in 1984 for people aged 65 or older, has now accumulated losses worth hundreds of billions of won for subway operators. While the ministries responsible for the laws underpinning the program have remained largely aloof to the growing financial strain, the only immediate relief in sight is a bill pending before a National Assembly standing committee. The losses are staggering, and as the population ages, the number of people who benefit from the service grows, fueling the problem. Seoul Metro, under the Seoul Metropolitan Government, operates subway lines 1 through 8 across Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. Last year alone, it saw an operational deficit of 450 billion won ($290 million) from free rides, according to the National Assembly Research Service (NARS). That figure accounted for 54 percent of the company’s entire deficit

Jul 9, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Seoul, Busan grapple with rising costs of seniors' free subway rides
Companies

InterviewCraft cider brewer defies odds in Korea's soju-dominated market

CHUNGJU, North Chungcheong Province — Korea is a tough market for ciders. Over 80 percent of the country’s liquor market is soju and beer, while the rest is mostly driven by makgeolli (Korean traditional rice alcohol), wine and whisky. In this competitive environment, ciders are a niche market. Lee Dae-ro, CEO of Dancing Cider, a craft cider brewery started in 2018 in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, keeps his chin up despite difficulties in surviving a market where he's one of only a handful of cider-makers. It's hard to stand out in the industry, which is dominated by large-size firms like HiteJinro, Oriental Brewery and Lotte Chilsung. “The liquor market here is really a playground for the big boys, not just for their own brands but also the major global brands they import. It’s easy for them to expand their business by acquiring small breweries, sometimes even by ignoring legally binding contracts,” said Lee in his interview with The Korea Times. “There's a simple reason why ciders are not popular in Korea. Large firms don’t invest in them.” The global gastronomic

Jul 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Craft cider brewer defies odds in Korea's soju-dominated market
Companies

Buchang Bakery's G-Dragon walnut cake to be served at UNESCO meeting in Busan

Buchang Bakery, specializing in gourmet walnut cakes, will sponsor the UNESCO World Heritage summit in Busan later this month with its dainty delicacy baked in collaboration with K-pop icon G-Dragon. Fresh Gourmet, the Seoul-based operator of the Buchang Bakery walnut cake brand, said Wednesday it will provide its products during the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled for July 19 to 29 in the southeastern port city of Busan. The company will also operate a pop-up store at K-Heritage House, which will run throughout the event at BEXCO. The event, to be held in Korea for the first time since the country joined the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1988, is expected to draw representatives from the convention's 196 states parties, along with experts in global heritage conservation and promotion. Buchang will offer its signature lineup of walnut cakes, including Daisy Bomb Walnut Cake, which was introduced earlier this year by the company’s collaboration with G-Dragon’s charity foundation JUSPEACE. The K-pop star in February gifted Daisy Bomb sets to fans wh

Jul 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Buchang Bakery's G-Dragon walnut cake to be served at UNESCO meeting in Busan
Companies

Taihan Cable & Solution wins Australian order for AI data center power grid

Taihan Cable & Solution said Wednesday it has won a turnkey contract to build power grid infrastructure for an artificial intelligence (AI) data center under construction in Australia, expanding its push into the global data center power market. The company said the roughly 45 billion won ($29.8 million) contract was awarded by Transgrid, Australia's largest transmission network operator. Under the deal, Taihan will design, engineer and construct a 330-kilovolt cable system to supply power to the AI data center, handling the project from design through construction. AI data centers operate around the clock and require large, uninterrupted amounts of electricity, making reliable power infrastructure essential to their operation. Building such systems demands high-voltage cable technology along with expertise in grid design, engineering and construction management. Taihan said it was selected over other global competitors based on its track record in extra-high-voltage cables and international projects. The company has worked on multiple projects in Australia and New Zealand, including a 500

Jul 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Taihan Cable & Solution wins Australian order for AI data center power grid
Tech & Science

LG Energy Solution expands US ESS production with Tennessee LFP cell launch

LG Energy Solution (LGES) is expanding its energy storage system (ESS) production capacity in North America, as it moves to strengthen its supply chain and capture a larger share of the region’s rapidly growing market. Ultium Cells, a joint venture between LGES and General Motors, began mass production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells for ESS at its plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee on Tuesday (local time). Commercial production at the Tennessee facility comes about four months after Ultium Cells announced plans to repurpose part of its electric vehicle (EV) battery production capacity into ESS manufacturing. The joint venture invested approximately $70 million in the conversion, enabling the plant to begin large-scale production of LFP cells in the second quarter. The batteries produced at the Tennessee plant will be supplied through LGES' U.S.-based ESS system integration subsidiary Vertech, serving utility-scale, commercial, industrial and residential energy storage projects across the country. The move reflects the company’s strategic pivot toward the fast-growing ESS s

Jul 8, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
LG Energy Solution expands US ESS production with Tennessee LFP cell launch
Tech & Science

Korea's digital industry expands 9.3 % in 2024: report

Korea's digital industry expanded 9.3 percent in 2024 from a year earlier, amid growing global investments in artificial intelligence (AI), government data showed Wednesday. Sales of the country's digital industry came to 1,378 trillion won ($917.96 billion) in 2024, accounting for 15.2 percent of the country's total industrial output for the year, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The ministry noted that the tally represented more than half of that of the conventional manufacturing sector, which posted sales of 2,598 trillion won in the same year. The rise was attributed to increased global investments in AI and growing ICT exports, including those from semiconductors, the ministry explained. Korea's digital maturity, which gauges the level of digital technology adoption and innovation at organizations, was 75.4 percent in 2024, up 10.8 percentage points from a year earlier. From 2022 to 2024, the data showed 52 percent of digital companies adopted cloud computing technology, while 43.5 percent harnessed AI technologies, and 29.1 percent adopted big data. "The go

Jul 8, 2026By Yonhap
Korea's digital industry expands 9.3 % in 2024: report
Companies

Naver Cloud, Mistral AI sign partnership to target manufacturing AI

Naver Cloud and French artificial intelligence (AI) company Mistral AI said Wednesday that they have signed a comprehensive partnership agreement to jointly pursue the manufacturing AI market, positioning an Asian and a European technology firm together at a time when the global AI industry is increasingly dominated by major U.S. companies. The two companies are both members of the Nemotron Coalition, a group of firms working with Nvidia's Nemotron family of AI models, and already share overlapping technology. Building on that base, they plan to focus their joint business on manufacturing, an area where they see the greatest potential synergy. Rather than competing with general-purpose AI centered on the U.S., the companies aim to offer manufacturers in Europe and Asia so-called sovereign AI solutions, which keep data processing within a company's or country's own borders, rather than in AI systems based overseas. Immediately after signing, the companies held a joint workshop with technical staff at Naver's second headquarters, called 1784, to begin mapping out a commercialization plan

Jul 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Naver Cloud, Mistral AI sign partnership to target manufacturing AI
Companies

CJ Olive Young rolls out AI kiosks to help foreign shoppers navigate stores

CJ Olive Young, Korea's largest health and beauty retail chain, said Wednesday it is introducing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered services in its stores to make shopping easier for international customers, as demand for K-beauty products continues to grow. The company is first rolling out its "AI Shopping Assistant" at multi-story flagship stores with high foreign customer traffic and strong demand for product information. Through a kiosk, customers can hold a real-time conversation in eight different languages through an AI avatar, avoiding the need for staff assistance. The kiosk provides product descriptions, inventory checks, in-store navigation and personalized recommendations based on skin type and preferences. The company said the kiosks are also meant to improve store efficiency by letting staff focus on specialized consultations, since simple or frequently asked questions about things like payment methods or value-added tax refunds can be answered on the touch screen. The kiosks also provide store managers with a dashboard showing information like how long customers spend lo

Jul 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
CJ Olive Young rolls out AI kiosks to help foreign shoppers navigate stores
Companies

Kakao Mobility, Renault Korea sign partnership on next-gen vehicle technology

Kakao Mobility and Renault Korea said Wednesday that they signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop next-generation in-vehicle technology, combining Kakao Mobility's mapping and software expertise with Renault Korea's vehicle platforms. Under the deal, the companies will jointly develop and test high-precision map data and software to power advanced driver assistance systems, the collision-avoidance and driving-support features increasingly built into modern cars. The partnership also covers upgrading in-vehicle infotainment systems — the built-in displays and software that handle navigation, entertainment and connected services — by linking them with mobility features such as navigation, parking and EV charging, along with broader efforts to improve the driving experience in future vehicles. The companies previewed their collaboration at NextRise 2026, a major Asian technology and startup exhibition held June 17, where Renault Korea displayed a concept car based on its Grand Koleos SUV equipped with Kakao Mobility's technology and services. Kakao Mobility said the agre

Jul 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Kakao Mobility, Renault Korea sign partnership on next-gen vehicle technology
Banking & Finance

Students honored for essays exploring AI use in finance, digital assets

Seven students from Korea and abroad were honored at the 22nd Korea Times English Economic Essay Contest award ceremony in Seoul, Wednesday. Open to undergraduate and graduate students in Korea and abroad, the annual contest is sponsored by Woori Bank, an affiliate of Woori Financial Group. The contest aims to help young people deepen their understanding of economics and finance while strengthening their English writing skills. The ceremony held at Lotte Hotel Seoul was attended by the awardees, as well as Woori Bank CEO Jung Jin-wan and Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin. The grand prizes went to Alexandra Maria Escobar Garay, a Salvadoran student at Busan University of Foreign Studies, and Ko Kyung-hwan, a Korean student at Hanyang University. Each received 3 million won ($1,970) in prize money. The runners-up were Khadizha Sultanova, a Kyrgyz student at Woosong University, and Said Jonathan Luviano-Lessie, a Mexican student at Ajou University, who each received 2 million won in prize money. Commendation awards went to Tran Minh Ngoc, a Vietnamese student at Hanoi Financial and

Jul 8, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin
Students honored for essays exploring AI use in finance, digital assets
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