Samsung secures cash from display unit to boost lagging chip business

Samsung Electronics plans to borrow 20 trillion won ($15.78 billion) from its display unit to secure working capital as the tech giant seeks to maintain a similar level of investment as last year, despite the sharp industry downturn to continue into the year. In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Samsung said it will be borrowing funds from Samsung Display at an interest rate of 4.6 percent, with the loan to mature on Aug. 17, 2025. Samsung Display, an affiliate in which Samsung Electronics holds 8

Feb. 15, 2023

LG Innotek unveils world's thinnest semiconductor base

LG Innotek said Wednesday that it launched the world’s thinnest and widest film-type semiconductor substrate, 2-metal chip on film, a key component for extended reality devices. Chip on film (COF) is a semiconductor packaging substrate that connects the display and main printed circuit board. It helps minimize display bezels and miniaturize modules for electronic devices such as TVs, laptops, monitors and smartphones. The 2-metal COF is an upgraded version of the single-sided COF, which is

Feb. 15, 2023

[Graphic News] Cigarette sales up in S. Korea in 2022

Sales of cigarettes in South Korea edged up 1.1 percent in 2022 from a year before, the Finance Ministry said, despite the government’s anti-smoking campaign. South Korean smokers purchased 3.63 billion packs of 20 cigarettes in 2022, up from the 3.59 billion packs tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The amount, however, marked a 16.8 percent drop from 2014, a year before the government raised the price of cigarettes by 80 percent in January 2015 from

Feb. 15, 2023

Samsung chief unlikely to seek board membership

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong is unlikely to seek board membership at the company, as it was not included in the list of agenda items to be discussed in the upcoming general shareholders meeting on March 15. Samsung held a board of directors meeting on Tuesday to fix the date of this year’s general gathering and three topics to be discussed there, the company said in a press release. The three agendas are approving of the company's financial statement, appointment of Vice

Feb. 14, 2023

International research team developed new micro-LED for better VR technology

A research team comprised of experts from Korea, the United States and Europe developed "full-color micro LEDs with ultra-fine vertical stacked pixel structures" which can enable the production of more vivid screens. A joint research team led by Hong Young-joon, a professor of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Engineering at Sejong University, has developed a new method to reduce costs and time of producing micro LEDs -- devices that are smaller than 100 micrometers in length and w

Feb. 14, 2023

[Photo News] Immersive Galaxy experience

Visitors take pictures with Samsung Electronics' latest Galaxy S23 Plus smartphone at a Galaxy Studio pop-up store in Seongsu, east of Seoul, on Tuesday. The tech giant is running three pop-up stores to allow visitors to experience its latest Galaxy S23 series in Seongsu, Hongdae and Yeonnam areas in Seoul until March 26.

Feb. 14, 2023

SK grants W200m to nurture social ventures

SK Supex, SK Group’s top decision-making council, said Tuesday that the group selected two environment-related social enterprises, Netspa and En2core Technology, as the beneficiaries of its venture fostering program, Impact Union, and had granted 100 million won to each of the companies. Running the project aimed at fostering social enterprises since 2020, the nation’s second-largest conglomerate assessed 25 social enterprises recommended by investors and partner business accelerat

Feb. 14, 2023

Science minister to present Korea’s digital strategy at MWC

South Korea’s science minister and the heads of telecommunications giants SK Telecom and KT are participating in the upcoming Mobile World Congress set to be held from Feb. 27 to March 2 in Barcelona, Spain. Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT, will deliver a speech at the GSMA’s ministerial program slated for the second day of the global event. According to the GSMA, the organizing group of the MWC, the ministerial program will cover the topic of investing in networks to achiev

Feb. 14, 2023

LG CNS launches new research platform Quinoa

LG CNS said Tuesday it has launched a new research platform, called Quinoa, to allow users to conduct surveys more easily and check and share results via mobile devices. The name comes from the superfood grain of the same name to represent “small but meaningful thoughts and opinions that come together to offer insight about the world.” Anyone who registers for membership can use the mobile application free of charge. The mobile application is available at both Android and Apple'

Feb. 14, 2023

Samsung mobile chief hints at extending AI partnerships

Samsung Electronics President and mobile business chief Roh Tae-moon has hinted at the tech giant’s potential partnerships with global IT firms to develop new artificial intelligence technologies for its smartphones. Roh noted the possible partnerships at a press conference held in Malaysia on Thursday, for the launch of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S23 smartphone lineup, according to Vietnam’s Soha News and other local media outlets. The media outlets reported the mobile chief

Feb. 14, 2023

Hugel, Huons stress no ties to Medytox's botox patent

South Korean botulinum toxin manufacturers Hugel and Huons Biopharma announced Monday that the latest court ruling on a legal dispute between Medytox and Daewoong will not influence their botulinum toxin businesses, saying that their botulinum toxin strains would not face patent issues with Medytox. Hugel and Huons Biopharma are South Korean firms selling botulinum toxin products under the brand names Letybo and Liztox, respectively. The two companies’ announcements came after the Seoul Ce

Feb. 13, 2023

ABL Bio turns to profit in 2022

ABL Bio, a South Korean drug maker, announced Monday that the company turned a profit last year, backed by milestone payments it received under licensing-out deals. ABL Bio said its annual sales in 2022 went up 1162.1 percent to reach 67.3 billion won ($52.7 million). The company’s annual operating profit came to 900 million won during the same period. ABL Bio’s sales in the previous year came to 5.3 billion won, while its operating loss reached 52.3 billion won. ABL Bio’s lice

Feb. 13, 2023

Samsung vows to replace all plastics in Galaxy phones with recycled materials by 2050

Samsung Electronics, the largest smartphone maker in the world by shipment, vowed Monday to replace all plastics used in its Galaxy smartphones to recycled materials by 2050, highlighting its latest Galaxy S series, which has been made with the highest number of recyclables to date. At the same time, the company said it will bear the cost of converting the recycled materials using special technologies and that it will not transfer the cost burden to consumers. “Samsung Electronics is conti

Feb. 13, 2023

[Photo News] Above the moon

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Monday released photos of the moon taken by Danuri, South Korea's first lunar mission also known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter. As the KPLO underwent a testing period for about a month after it successfully entered the moon's orbit on Dec. 27, it was able to capture high-definition photos of the moon's surface and send the collected data to the Earth's ground control.

Feb. 13, 2023

[Contribution] ODA, a channel for Korea to engage with the world

By Song Sang-keun Football, Pho noodles, and Ao Dai first come to Korean minds when it comes to Vietnam, but the country is less well-known for its natural environment that favors fisheries development. The northern part of Vietnam is home to expansive mangrove forests and mudflats, which has enabled the growth of shellfish aquaculture that has supported local economies since the mid-1990s. In recent years, however, Vietnam has suffered a drastic decrease in shellfish production due to overfishi

Feb. 13, 2023

Animal drugs have long way to go despite surging pet population

The domestic veterinary medicine market appears to be expanding, given the myriad of new pet health care products coming out in the market. Yet local firms are struggling to expand due to low marketability, according to industry sources. “The domestic veterinary drug market is a red ocean,” said an official from a local pharmaceutical company that has been selling veterinary medicines for decades in the country. “With global drug giants already dominating the nascent market, lo

Feb. 12, 2023

China’s reopening to boost Korea’s economic growth for 2023: KITA

With China as its biggest trade partner, South Korea will likely see its economy growth aided by the neighboring country’s reopening of its borders in an easing of the yearslong COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, a Korean trade lobby group said Sunday. In a report, the Korea International Trade Association said China’s reopening would add 0.16 percentage point to South Korea’s growth rate of 1.6 to 1.7 percent predicted for this year, with the margin making up 10 percent of the

Feb. 12, 2023

[Photo News] Eco-friendly mobile accessorizes

Samsung Electronics said Sunday it is operating a pop-up store featuring Samsung Eco Friends accessories made of eco-friendly materials such as recycled plastic and vegan leather. Launched by Future Generation Lab, consisting of Samsung employees in their 20s, the company said, the accessory line aims to appeal to conscious consumption trends among younger consumers.

Feb. 12, 2023

Kakao to join AI battle with Korean-language KoGPT

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s No. 1 messenger app KakaoTalk, said Friday that it plans to expand its vertical Korean language-based artificial intelligence services based on an AI language model called KoGPT this year. Kakao CEO Hong Eun-taek said in its earnings conference that his group would seek to compete against global AI services with a specialized Korean language service. “The rise of hyperscale AI models like ChatGPT is both an opportunity and a crisis for Kakao,&rd

Feb. 10, 2023

Companies better prepared to handle workplace safety law after 1 year: report

A year after the country’s introduction of a workplace safety law, more companies have launched teams overseeing safety and gained a better understanding of the controversial act, a report said on Thursday. The latest report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed that the number of companies who have launched a team to specifically handle workplace safety and health almost doubled in the past year. The latest survey was conducted in January and the previous one was carried

Feb. 9, 2023