Kepco chief offers to resign amid deficit woes

Korea Electric Power Corp. President and CEO Cheong Seung-il offered to resign Friday, as the state-operated power utility firm announced a 25 trillion won ($18.7 billion) self-rescue measure to overcome swelling deficit. Cheong's resignation came after Kepco announced its self-rehabilitation plan, which includes selling off of property assets and wage freeze to improve financial stability. The CEO was appointed to the post in June 2021, and was set to serve for another year in his term. &q

May 12, 2023

Google takes aim at Samsung with first foldable phone

US tech giant Google unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the Pixel Fold, at its annual I/O developer conference in California Wednesday, aiming to challenge the dominance of Samsung Electronics in the global market. While Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have followed Samsung’s footsteps in launching foldable smartphones, Google has become the first major tech firm in the US to make an entry into the growing foldable market. The Pixel Fold is set for a Ju

May 11, 2023

OLED rivalry of Samsung, BOE expands into patent war

As display panel makers of South Korea and China are vying to win greater global market share, the rivalry appears to be expanding into a patent war. Chinese top display panel manufacturer BOE Technology and two of its subsidiaries recently filed six lawsuits against Samsung Display and its five Chinese entities concerning patent infringement at Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in southwestern China, according to the court. The Beijing-based firm also took two legal proceedings

May 11, 2023

[Photo News] Reinventing LG brand

LG Electronics’ promotional videos, featuring the company’s refurbished “Life’s Good” slogan, are displayed on billboards in the bustling Hongdae district in western Seoul on Tuesday. The tech giant is starting a two-month campaign to promote its renewed brand identity across 17 key areas in the city.

May 10, 2023

[Photo News] LX Hausys' Europe push

LX Hausys’ exhibition booth is set up at the Interzum 2023, the world’s largest gathering of the building materials industry that kicked off in Cologne, Germany, Tuesday. In its renewed push for expansion in Europe, the company plans to showcase some 70 types of eco-friendly and high-performance furniture films during the four-day trade show.

May 10, 2023

AI could replace 80% of jobs in few years

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Artificial intelligence could replace 80 percent of human jobs in the coming years -- but that's a good thing, says US-Brazilian researcher Ben Goertzel, a leading AI guru. Mathematician, cognitive scientist and famed robot-creator Goertzel, 56, is founder and chief executive of SingularityNET, a research group he launched to create "Artificial General Intelligence," or AGI -- artificial intelligence with human cognitive abilities. With his long hair and leopard-

May 10, 2023

Celltrion drops $4b bid to acquire Baxter unit

Celltrion said Tuesday that the company decided not to acquire BioPharma Solutions, a leading provider of sterile contract manufacturing solutions owned by US-based medical device maker Baxter International. “Celltrion reviewed the acquisition but decided not to make the investment,” an official from Celltrion said. Celltrion’s announcement came after Baxter International's statement was released on Monday, in which the company said it signed a definitive agreement to dive

May 9, 2023

German AI firm DeepL seeks bigger presence in Korea

The CEO of Germany-based artificial intelligence company DeepL affirmed the company’s vision to strengthen its presence in Korea by providing more advanced and accurate translation as a service -- DeepL Pro -- from August. DeepL Pro is an advanced subscription-based service that allows users to take full advantage of in-house AI translation technology. It offers user-optimized web translation and the ability to integrate into algorithmic translation software, according to the CEO. In Janua

May 9, 2023

Businesses seek Kishida’s support for tech, supply chain partnership

South Korea's business lobby groups asked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to support their budding efforts to boost cooperation with Japan, especially in the fields of advanced technology and resource development in third countries, in a closed-door meeting in Seoul on Monday. Meeting with the chiefs of Korea's six major business lobby groups on the second day of his two-day trip, Kishida expressed hopes for businesses to lead the effort to achieve the shared goal of bolstering i

May 8, 2023

SK Bioscience signs deal to produce MSD’s new Ebola vaccine

SK Bioscience signed a contract manufacturing agreement with MSD to produce the latter’s next-generation Zaire ebolavirus vaccine candidate, the company said Monday. MSD is developing a next-generation Zaire Ebola vaccine candidate with Hilleman Laboratories to improve the production efficiency and thermal stability of the existing Zaire Ebola vaccine, Ervebo, which was approved in 2019. The development of MSD's new vaccine is in the early stage, and detailed manufacturing plans, howe

May 8, 2023

Naver to unveil its answer to ChatGPT this summer

South Korean internet giant Naver will unveil HyperClova X, its hyperscale artificial intelligence platform, which boasts greater Korean language skills than its US rival, OpenAI's ChatGPT, this summer to upgrade its services overall. “Based on HyperClova, which has the third-largest Korean language training volume in the world and the first in Korea, we’ll unveil a HyperClova X service that is comparable to GPT-4 (the successor of ChatGPT),” Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said d

May 8, 2023

SK bolsters carbon capture technology

SK Innovation and SK IE Technology announced Monday that the two companies will jointly invest in Airrane, a local firm specializing in membrane technology for gas separation, to strengthen their carbon reduction competitiveness. SK IE Technology -- a subsidiary of SK Innovation, an energy and chemical company under South Korean conglomerate SK Group -- manufactures lithium-ion battery separators, or LiBS, for electric vehicles. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. Airrane has worked

May 8, 2023

[Beyond Earth] ‘Space traffic control will be huge market’

As the global space race gets heated, more satellites will be launched into space. Dealing with the increasing number of satellites will be an enormous market. Nara Space, a South Korean startup specializing in developing small satellites and providing solutions with satellite images of the Earth, is aiming to become a pioneer in the space traffic control sector. “We think the market for controlling space traffic or markets related to space traffic will grow immensely,” Park Jae-pil,

May 8, 2023

Kishida confirms Japan working to put S. Korea back on export ‘white list’

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida confirmed Japan is in the process of reinstating South Korea to its “white list” of trusted trading partners amid joint efforts to improve bilateral economic ties, the leaders said Sunday. In a joint press conference following their summit in Seoul, the two leaders also said they agreed to bolster cooperation in industries including semiconductors, materials, parts and equipment. “Government talks

May 7, 2023

German envoy calls for close ties with 'like-minded' Korea in digital tech era

Germany's main envoy to South Korea discussed ways to forge stronger ties in the era of the "fourth industrial revolution" at the Global Business Forum hosted by The Korea Herald on Wednesday at the Ambassador Seoul - A Pullman Hotel. During the 11th session of the forum, German Ambassador Michael Reiffenstuel said that the two sides had intensified their collaboration in core areas of tech, while digitalization has revolutionized both economies. “As a like-minded country an

May 7, 2023

[From the Scene] Nuri rocket gears up for 1st space delivery

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province -- South Korea’s homegrown Nuri rocket, also known as the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II, was waiting for the arrival of the satellites that it will carry into orbit later this month at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, on Wednesday. Successfully placing the satellites into the targeted orbit will be key for upcoming launch as the Nuri rocket readies for its third flight. “The first and second launches were about developing capabil

May 7, 2023

Samsung chief vows to repeat chip success story in biopharma

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung Group, vowed to boost the nation’s largest conglomerate’s burgeoning biopharma business to "repeat the success story of semiconductors," as he met with heads of major biopharmaceutical companies in the United States, the company said Sunday. Traveling to the US' East Coast, home to the world’s leading biopharma clusters, Lee met with the heads of global biopharmaceutical and venture incubat

May 7, 2023

[Photo News] Promoting Busan's Expo bid in Germany

Pedestrians walk past Samsung Electronics’ digital screen promoting Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Hamburg, Germany, in this photo provided by the tech giant on Sunday. Samsung took part in this year's Hamburg Port Anniversary, the world's biggest port festival, held last week.

May 7, 2023

[Eye Interview] Treating patients and R&D go hand in hand

As we exchange business cards at the start of the interview, his card catches my attention. The navy blue card with silver letters and an embossed seal of the school is very distinguished looking. The design clearly intends to command respect. I note the unusual design and Dr. Bae Sang-cheol, distinguished professor at Hanyang University, explains that the school’s distinguished professors are given the special cards. Bae, a former director of Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Dise

May 6, 2023

SK Bioscience shares soar after contract deal with MSD

SK Bioscience’s share price soared over 16 percent on Thursday after the company signed a manufacturing deal with international pharmaceutical firm MSD. According to the Health Ministry and SK Bioscience on Friday, SK Bioscience and MSD inked the contract manufacturing deal to produce a vaccine. Following the signing, SK Bioscience’s stock price increased 16.39 percent to 83,100 won ($64.04) on Thursday, largely on the hopes that the company's sluggish performance will improve i

May 5, 2023