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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
  • Tech & Science

    Koreans' level of AI utilization 1.7 times the global average: report

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Koreans' level of AI utilization 1.7 times the global average: report
  • Companies

    Hybrid becomes Hyundai Motor's new US strategy

    2 MIN READBy Lee Min-hyung
    Hybrid becomes Hyundai Motor's new US strategy
  • Companies

    LG Uplus leads digital customer experience ranking for 3rd straight year

    1 MIN READBy Lee Kyung-min
    LG Uplus leads digital customer experience ranking for 3rd straight year
  • Banking & Finance

    Mirae Asset sets $109 bil. target for digital asset business

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Mirae Asset sets $109 bil. target for digital asset business
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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

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
Tech & Science

LG AI Research showcases real-world EXAONE AI applications at ICML 2026

LG AI Research is showcasing a series of industrial artificial intelligence (AI) applications powered by its large language model (LLM) EXAONE at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) 2026, underscoring its push to use advanced AI for real-world commercial solutions. The conference, taking place at Coex in southeastern Seoul from Monday through Friday, is being held in Korea for the first time. It is widely regarded as one of the world's top three AI and machine learning research forums. For the event, the company highlights the real-world deployment of its LLM across materials science, finance and data infrastructure, including EXAONE Discovery, an AI platform designed to accelerate new materials and drug development. EXAONE Discovery, built on the company’s AI co-scientist technology, reads unstructured scientific papers, extracts molecular structures and proposes new candidate compounds in response to researchers’ queries. LG AI Research secured patents covering this end‑to‑end AI‑driven discovery workflow earlier this year and has since applied it in resea

Jul 8, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
LG AI Research showcases real-world EXAONE AI applications at ICML 2026
Companies

Hyundai Motor's robotics momentum overshadowed by sales decline

Hyundai Motor’s stock has surrendered much of this year's robotics-driven gains, as the carmaker's steeply falling vehicle sales shift investor focus back to the firm's core business. The carmaker earned a spotlight from investors earlier this year on expectations that its robotics business — centered on humanoid robot development and physical artificial intelligence (AI) technologies — would become a new growth engine. However, Hyundai Motor's shares have retreated sharply, erasing much of the premium that investors had attached to the company's long-term technology ambitions. Market analysts and industry officials argue that the firm will be able to regain confidence from investors only after displaying a clear vision that its core automotive business can recover from the weakening sales. Hyundai Motor recorded weak performance in the Korean market in the first half of the year. Domestic sales plunged 10.8 percent between January and June from a year earlier. In April, Hyundai Motor temporarily surrendered the title of Korea's best-selling automaker to its sister carmaker Kia for

Jul 8, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor's robotics momentum overshadowed by sales decline
Companies

SK hynix estimated to purchase $13.2 bil. in bonds in 2026 amid record earnings

Korean chipmaker SK hynix is estimated to have purchased about 20 trillion won ($13.2 billion) worth of bonds this year as record earnings from the booming chip industry swelled its cash holdings, industry sources said Wednesday. The chip giant's purchases span a broad range of high-grade credit products, including bonds issued by Korea Electric Power Corp., other public institutions, banks, financial firms, securities companies and specialized credit finance companies, the sources said. Industry observers said SK hynix has emerged as one of the largest investors in the domestic credit market as its record-breaking semiconductor earnings have sharply boosted its cash holdings, creating a need for short-term investment vehicles to manage excess liquidity. SK hynix posted record first-quarter earnings, reporting 52 trillion won in revenue and 37 trillion won in operating profit. Its cash and cash equivalents totaled 54.3 trillion won at the end of the January-March period, up 19.4 trillion won from three months earlier. Reflecting its strong earnings momentum, SK hynix shares have surged mo

Jul 8, 2026By Yonhap
SK hynix estimated to purchase $13.2 bil. in bonds in 2026 amid record earnings
Companies

Galaxy Robot Park sells out July weekend shows ahead of official opening

Galaxy Corp. said Wednesday that ticket sales for the preopening of its new Galaxy Robot Park have exceeded expectations, with all July weekend shows selling out immediately despite the venue's official grand opening being scheduled for September. The company said about 8,000 visitors secured reservations during the initial July booking period. Following the rapid sellout of weekend performances, it has received numerous requests to release additional tickets. Galaxy Robot Park is billed as the world's first physical artificial intelligence (AI) theme park, combining AI, robotics, live performances and intellectual property into an immersive entertainment experience. Unlike a conventional exhibition venue, the park is designed as a permanent performance space where humans and robots appear on stage together, offering interactive experiences intended to showcase advances in AI-powered robotics. At the center of the venue is the Robot Arena, where visitors can watch performances including synchronized K-pop robot dance shows and robot boxing matches. Other attractions include a "Hugging Ro

Jul 8, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Galaxy Robot Park sells out July weekend shows ahead of official opening
Tech & Science

Samsung SDS faces collective bargaining demands from fledgling union

Samsung SDS is facing growing pressure to improve its incentive system, as its labor union secured majority support just a day after its launch and demanded collective bargaining with management. According to the company on Wednesday, it has decided to scrap a proposed revision to its incentive system, as support for the plan reached only about 40 percent in an employee vote. The company had held the vote from June 24 through Tuesday, seeking approval from at least half of its employees to replace its existing cash-based “target achievement incentive” with treasury shares worth up to 20 percent of annual salary. However, the proposal faced employee opposition, ultimately prompting workers to establish the company's first labor union. The union, the Samsung Group United Union Samsung SDS Chapter, was officially launched on Monday and secured more than 5,500 memberships the following day, surpassing half of the company's workforce of about 11,000. Membership rose to around 5,800 on Tuesday night before easing to 5,686 as of Wednesday morning. The union on Tuesday requested collective b

Jul 8, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung SDS faces collective bargaining demands from fledgling union
Companies

Retail chains lose ground under outdated regulations

The government's regulations on discount chain stores are facing growing criticism, with calls for the rules to be abolished or eased to help the offline retail sector survive intensifying competition from the fast-growing e-commerce industry. Introduced in 2012 to protect traditional markets and small businesses, the regulations generally require large discount stores to close on the second and fourth Sunday of each month and prohibit them from operating or making deliveries between midnight and 8 a.m. The initiative to ease or abolish the rules has gained momentum in the National Assembly and among market researchers, who argue the regulations are outdated and no longer reflect a retail market increasingly dominated by e-commerce. The biggest criticism is that the regulations were crafted at a time when e-commerce had yet to emerge as a major retail force. Instead, discount chain stores dominated the market. Emart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus, the country's three largest discount store chains, generated a combined 37.2 trillion won ($24.4 billion) in sales in 2012 while operating a record

Jul 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Retail chains lose ground under outdated regulations
Companies

Daekyo expands global education footprint with personalized learning model

Education company Daekyo is accelerating its global expansion with businesses including its supplemental education service Eye Level and storytelling play gym program TuniTuni, broadening its portfolio from tutoring into early childhood and activity-based programs as it marks its 50th anniversary. Founded in 1976, Daekyo, best known for its flagship supplemental education service Noonnoppi, built its domestic presence on personalized learning, including home-visit tutoring and level-based curricula. The company's roots date back to a small study room, where it introduced an approach that assessed each student's learning level rather than relying solely on grade-based instruction. At a time when education was largely standardized and teacher-led, Daekyo focused on assessing individual proficiency and developing step-by-step learning programs, supported by its self-developed teaching materials, ongoing monitoring and teacher feedback. The approach helped drive the adoption of level-based and self-directed learning in Korea’s private education market. The model proved adaptable during regu

Jul 8, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Daekyo expands global education footprint with personalized learning model
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