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

Industry March 31, 2023

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

Industry March 30, 2023

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

Industry March 29, 2023

Last Sunday in Seoul’s bustling Hongdae district, a couple in their 20s walked into a crowded Baskin Robbins store, and inquired if they could pay using Apple Pay. Moments later, their payment went through and their faces beamed with joy. “The hype was real. It (Apple Pay) is so fast and convenient. We are addicted to the ‘ding’ sound that we hear when the payment goes through on Apple Pay,” the couple said. Apple Pay made its official debut in Korea on March 21, al

Industry March 28, 2023

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

Industry March 28, 2023

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

Industry March 27, 2023

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

Industry March 26, 2023

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

Industry March 22, 2023

South Korean information technology service provider LG CNS said it launched cloud cost optimization service FinOps Clinic, which assesses clients’ cloud usage to offer the optimal budget and reduce overall cloud spending. More companies are using multiple cloud services from multiple service providers, and the new service is aimed to allow clients to effectively manage their costs by identifying mismanaged or abnormal cost occurrences, LG CNS said. FinOps -- formed by combining "fina

Industry March 21, 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for close cooperation of businesses of South Korea and Japan, especially in cutting-edge fields of semiconductors and batteries, during a meeting of entrepreneurs of the two countries, Friday. The two biggest business groups of South Korea and Japan, Korean Federation of Industries and Japan Business Federation -- commonly known as Keidanren -- hosted the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable on the second day of Yoon's two-day visit to Tokyo. Yoon held

Industry March 17, 2023

Samsung Electronics has purchased more shares in Rainbow Robotics, a local humanoid robotics company, in an apparent move to ramp up its presence in the burgeoning robotics market. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Rainbow Robotics reported its Chief Executive Officer Oh Jun-ho and other special interest groups sold their combined 4.8 percent stake in the company to Samsung for 27.8 billion won ($21.2 million). Adding to its 10.22 percent stake purchased in January, Samsung now owns a tota

Industry March 16, 2023

SUWON, Gyeonggi Province -- While forecasting a grim business outlook amid a global economic downturn, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee vowed to overcome difficulties by focusing on the "fundamentals" and to maintain investment, during this year's annual shareholders meeting Wednesday. “We expect this year to be more difficult than ever, as management uncertainties surrounding the company would continue. But even in these situations, we were able to overcome

Industry March 15, 2023

Trade ministers of South Korea and the Netherlands on Tuesday agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation on various industries, especially in the semiconductors amid growing pressures from the US to curb investment in China. South Korean Minister for Trade Ahn Duk-geun met with Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher to exchange views on the two countries' partnership on economic security. They agreed to further strengthen complementary c

Industry March 14, 2023

South Korea's chip industry is feeling pressured to take a side between the United States and China in the two superpowers’ strategic rivalry, as Washington recently disclosed some "unusual" requirements for its $52 billion semiconductor funding program aimed at securing an upper hand against Beijing. Home to two of the world's largest memory chip makers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the South Korean government has also raised concerns, as the US CHIPS and Scienc

Industry March 13, 2023

LG Electronics said Thursday it has elevated its research and development center in Vietnam into a corporate entity as the tech giant seeks to further bolster its fast-growing automotive solutions business. The new unit, called LG Electronics Development Vietnam, will be in charge of developing and testing software for in-vehicle infotainment systems, one of the key products of LG’s vehicle solutions division. The IVI systems encompass telematics, audio, video and navigation solutions prov

Industry March 9, 2023