Korea vows all-out efforts to fight trade deficit

Experiencing a trade deficit for more than 13 consecutive months, South Korea will make pangovernmental efforts to lead a turnaround in trade, introducing support programs to foster key industries, the Trade Ministry said Monday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it held a trade inspection meeting in Seoul with related government agencies to find ways to deal with the continuing fall in trade. “While the country logged a massive trade deficit in January, the balance is gradua

April 3, 2023

KT plagued by unprecedented leadership vacuum

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. is in shambles due to an unprecedented leadership vacuum, with not only its chief executive, but also almost all of its board members stepping down amid speculations of revolving door appointments. Just before the start of this year's regular shareholders meeting on Friday, KT's three outside board members -- Kang Chung-gu, Pyo Hyun-myung and Yeo Eun-jung -- announced their resignations, leaving the board in almost complete vacancy. Kim

March 31, 2023

Naver to support Saudi Arabia in building city-scale digital twin, super app

Naver will support Saudi Arabia in creating a city-scale digital twin and developing a “super app” using its advanced technologies, the South Korean internet giant said Thursday. Naver said the company and its artificial intelligence and cloud service affiliates Naver Labs and Naver Cloud signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, or MoMRAH, and the Ministry of Investment, or MISA, to cooperate on the Middle Eastern country&rsquo

March 31, 2023

Korean chips act aims to extend tax cuts for local chipmakers

South Korea on Thursday passed a revision bill deemed the “Korean chips act” with greater tax breaks for investments in the semiconductor industry to lighten the burden for Korean chipmakers competing in the global chips arms race. The National Assembly passed a revision bill to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, which raises the corporate tax break for facility investment in the semiconductor and other strategic industries to 15 percent for large corporations such as Samsung E

March 30, 2023

McKinsey promotes Hyejin Kang to senior partner in Seoul office

McKinsey & Co., a global consulting firm, said Wednesday it has promoted partner Hyejin Kang to senior partner. Kang, who assumes the role on April 1, holds a bachelor's degree in microbiology from Seoul National University and a doctorate in neuroscience from the California Institute of Technology in the US. Since joining the company in 2001, Kang has been in charge of evaluating corporate culture of Korea’s top 100 companies. She is credited for playing a leading role in facilit

March 29, 2023

LG Innotek develops upgraded vehicle communication module

LG Innotek said Wednesday it has successfully developed an upgraded vehicle-to-everything communication module that drastically improves data transmission speed. The second-generation 5G network-based module, using Qualcomm chips, is considered a crucial safety component for autonomous driving. The company said it is seeking to start promotional activities targeting global car and parts makers, with an aim to debut the final product by 2025. The official product name is 5G-V2X Cellular Module. T

March 29, 2023

SK hynix CEO says won't cut production further

SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, will not carry out an additional cut in chip production this year, and will stick to its plan to build an advanced packaging plant in the US, the company's chief executive officer said Wednesday. Speaking at a shareholders meeting at the company's headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, SK hynix Vice Chairman and co-CEO Park Jung-ho forecast the demand for chips to recover in the second half of this year. But as uncertaint

March 29, 2023

Celltrion chairman hints at aggressive M&As this year

Celltrion's founder and returned chairman Seo Jung-jin said the company will be able to secure some 5 trillion won ($3.8 billion) for mergers and acquisitions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, through which the company aims to boost its new drug development capability. The company also plans to build its fourth manufacturing plant in the US, according to the chairman. "After the first half this year, the number of M&A candidates will come down to around 10, and the company w

March 29, 2023

[Beyond Earth] ‘Korea needs to join inner club of space powerhouses’

South Korea needs to join the “inner club of global space powerhouses” by developing unmatched space technology and becoming an attractive partner within the club, according to the first vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT. “There are areas where we need to stand on our own in terms of technology. But we can’t do everything by ourselves. For instance, we can’t do space exploration alone,” said First Vice Minister Oh Tae-seog in a recent interview

March 29, 2023

[Photo News] 5th Apple store in Seoul

Passersby walk past Apple's fifth retail store in Seoul on Wednesday. The Apple Gangnam, located near the Shinnonhyeon Subway Station in southern Seoul, will start operation at 5 p.m. Friday. Some 140 staff will be stationed to offer services not only in Korean, but also in Chinese, Japanese, Thai, French, German and English, the company said.

March 29, 2023

LG Chem to invest W10tr by 2025

LG Chem, a leading South Korean chemical company, announced Tuesday that the company will invest 10 trillion won ($7.7 billion) in its three business categories of batteries, drugs and sustainable energy solutions. With the investment, LG Chem aims to post 30 trillion won in annual sales by 2030, the company added. “There are many challenges ahead. Economic uncertainty remains high, regulations for carbon emissions are elevated, and the renewable energy sector has become increasingly compe

March 28, 2023

LG Display secures W1tr from sister unit

LG Display has decided to borrow 1 trillion won ($770.1 billion) from LG Electronics to secure operation funds, as the Korean display maker struggles to make ends meet amid sluggish demand. In a regulatory filing on Monday, LG Display said it decided to borrow 1 trillion won from LG Electronics at an interest rate of 6.06 percent for three years starting from Friday. The display maker would only be obligated to pay the interest during the first two years, and must pay back the loan by the rema

March 28, 2023

[Herald Interview] Rebellions aims to be 'next Samsung' in AI chips

Park Sung-hyun, co-founder and CEO of South Korean chip designer Rebellions, compared the latest buzz over artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT to that of the first iPhone decades ago. “This is a kind of industrial revolution. There may be no drastic change immediately, but we don’t know how far AI will go in replacing humans in the future,” Park told The Korea Herald in a recent interview, adding that it was the iPhone 3 that started bringing drastic changes across

March 27, 2023

LG stays low key on its 76th anniversary

South Korea’s fourth largest conglomerate LG Group marked its 76th anniversary on Monday. Unlike last year, the group did not plan a special event and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo did not deliver a celebratory message. “We usually do not really plan events on anniversaries, unless it is every five or 10 years. Last year was a little different because it was the 75th year,” an LG Group official told The Korea Herald. For last year’s anniversary, Koo delivered an encourag

March 27, 2023

Samsung chief travels to China first time in 3 years, meets with key officials

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong is making the most out of his first trip to China in three years, inspecting the affiliates’ production facilities, meeting with key Chinese officials and attending a high-profile summit with global business leaders. Samsung Electronics said Lee attended the China Development Forum, a three-day forum that kicked off Saturday in Beijing. There, Lee met with heads of major tech giants to exchange opinions on various agendas, including global manageme

March 26, 2023

Indonesia seeks Korean support for upgrading healthcare system

Indonesia’s health minister on Friday vowed to support South Korean companies for their business expansion in the burgeoning healthcare market of the Southeast Asian country at a forum held in Seoul celebrating the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties between the two countries. “The Indonesian government is trying to improve the country’s healthcare sector, in which South Korea’s cooperation is very important,” said Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin during a business sessi

March 24, 2023

Samsung chairman arrives in Beijing to attend China business summit

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Thursday arrived in Beijing to attend a high-profile corporate summit this weekend, according to industry sources Friday. It is the first time in three years for the de facto leader of Samsung Group to visit China, where the tech giant operates major production facilities. Lee is scheduled to attend the three-day China Development Forum set to run at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse until Monday. Attending by invitation, he is expected to be j

March 24, 2023

[Photo News] Samsung-Aramco 5G partnership

Samsung Electronics and Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil and gas company, have signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership to accelerate the industrial adoption of 5G network technology in the largest Middle Eastern country by area. Under the agreement, the two companies will promote the digital transformation of Saudi Arabia’s industrial sectors by adopting LTE and 5G high-speed network technologies.

March 24, 2023

Samsung Group celebrates low-key 85th anniversary

South Korea's largest conglomerate, Samsung Group, on Wednesday marked the 85th anniversary of its founding in a low-key manner. It is the first year that the big day has been celebrated following de facto leader Lee Jae-yong’s promotion to executive chairman of Samsung Electronics. Industry sources and Samsung officials said the group commemorated this year’s anniversary without organizing any official events as in other years. There was no special message delivered to employ

March 22, 2023

Samsung, SK breathe tentative sigh of relief over US chip subsidy rules

The United States has revealed the details of its “guardrail” proposal for global chipmakers who wish to receive its chips subsidy and have production facilities in China, "loosening" the restriction by allowing the limited expansion of production capacity in China. Home to two of the world's largest memory chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Korea's chip industry is somewhat relieved that the guardrail statute “slightly opens up the windpipe&rd

March 22, 2023