The Korea Herald

FKI’s influence ebbing away

The embattled business lobby group Federation of Korean Industries is stuck in a tight spot as it attempts to devise a reform plan without much enthusiasm or support from its major members.None of the heads from the nation’s top five conglomerates -- Samsung, LG, Hyundai, SK and Hanwha -- attended the organization’s meeting on Thursday morning, which was held to gather opinions about the future direction of the organization. The heads were absent from the meeting amid growing calls for the lobby

Industry Dec. 15, 2016

SK Hynix, Seagate may partner on SSD

South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker SK Hynix is expected to set up a joint company on solid-state drives with US data storage company Seagate, according to news reports on Wednesday. When the new company is created, SK Hynix is expected to hold a 51 percent share and Seagate to hold the remaining 49 percent. SK Hynix said in its regulatory filing on Wednesday evening, “Although we are reviewing various plans to boost business competitiveness of NAND flash business for the mid and long term, n

Technology Dec. 14, 2016

Huawei to supply network equipment for Olympics

Chinese tech giant Huawei is slated to provide its network equipment for the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics, Huawei and the Olympics committee confirmed Tuesday. Under the supply deal signed Tuesday, Huawei plans to supply wired network equipment and related services for the Olympics. The Chinese firm will also provide various network services including real-time data transmission, broadband certification and event network security monitoring based on an integrated network system. Huawei’s enterp

Technology Dec. 13, 2016

Beijing warns Trump over One China policy

Beijing issued its first clear warning Monday over Donald Trump's fiery rhetoric, as state media said the Asian giant could back "forces hostile to the US" if the president-elect follows through with threats to drop Washington's One China policy.It was the strongest signal yet from Chinese authorities that abandoning the One China policy, which guides relations with self-ruling Taiwan, would upset decades of carefully managed Sino-US relations and end cooperation between the world's top two econ

Dec. 12, 2016

South Korea's interim leader faces thorny issues

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who had a largely ceremonial job until President Park Geun-hye's impeachment last week, now must face off against North Korea and deal with edgy relations with Japan as the country's interim leader.Hwang visited the Joint Chiefs of Staff and told fellow Cabinet members on Monday that there are no unusual security or economic developments. But he will soon face a slew of thorny issues that will test his leadership while the Constitutional Court reviews w

Politics Dec. 12, 2016

Korea, Japan sign agreement to boost cooperation in disaster control

South Korea's safety minister on Monday signed an agreement with his Japanese counterpart to beef up cooperation in disaster control, the government said.Safety Minister Park In-yong and Japanese Minister for Disaster Management Jun Matsumoto signed the work cooperation agreement during a meeting in Tokyo, South Korea's Ministry of Public Safety and Security said in a release. This marks the first such event between the countries' chiefs in charge of disaster control.Under the deal, the two coun

Foreign Affairs Dec. 12, 2016

Ruling party to punish Park over corruption scandal

South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Monday it will punish President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal involving her and her confidante regardless of a separate investigation into the case.The party's central ethics committee made the decision after reviewing a request for punishment, which was submitted last month by a group of Park dissenters within the party, and explanatory material submitted by Park on Sunday, committee chief Lee Jin-gon said.Park faces allegations of involvement i

Politics Dec. 12, 2016

Samsung’s curved panels for Galaxy S8 questioned

Samsung Electronics is rumored to be ditching flat screens for its Galaxy S8 smartphones, and going solely with dual-edge panels, but industry watchers doubt whether there is sufficient demand for a curved screen-only model.According to recent news reports, the upcoming Galaxy S8 may come in 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch variants, with both adopting dual edge screens. This would be a new strategy for the tech giant, which has unveiled its Galaxy S6 and S7 series with both flat and dual-edge screens. The

Technology Dec. 12, 2016

Impeachment brings relief to Korean stock market

The Korean stock market is likely to be relieved by the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, as the outcome was widely expected and already priced into the market.　On the day of the vote, the Kospi index remained stable, only falling slightly by 0.31 percent. The index had been on the rise over the three days since the opposition parties proposed the impeachment bill on Tuesday.“(The stable market) is because the vote today is different from the political impeachment of the late president Roh

Dec. 9, 2016

Impeachment brings relief to Korean stock market

Conglomerates linked to alleged bribery on alert

Korean conglomerates embroiled in bribery allegations are on alert after the embattled President Park Geun-hye was impeached in a parliamentary vote Friday.Seven business moguls were included in the impeachment motion proposed by three opposition parties, on claims they donated money to the Mir Foundation run by Park’s close friend, Choi Soon-sil, after meeting with the president.　The motion also mentions Samsung C&T Corporation and its controversial merger with Cheil Industries, as well as SK a

Industry Dec. 9, 2016

Conglomerates linked to alleged bribery on alert

Samsung SDI’s deal with Lucid Motors estimated at $520m

Korean battery maker Samsung SDI confirmed Thursday its latest supply deal with the US electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors, which industry watchers estimated to be $520 million.Samsung SDI is slated to provide its cylindrical batteries to the California-based EV maker.Lucid Motors, which aims to compete with Tesla and other luxury EV brands, announced last week to build a $700 million auto factory in Arizona. It plans to launch high-end sports electric vehicles, which run more than 644 kilomet

Technology Dec. 8, 2016

Samsung SDI’s deal with Lucid Motors estimated at $520m

US court sides with Samsung over patent battle with Apple

The US Supreme Court sided with Samsung Electronics in a patent dispute with Apple, sending back the ruling that the Korean tech giant pay $399 million for infringing on Apple’s iPhone design patent.The court returned the case to the lower court Tuesday, saying the damages should be computed based on the profit Samsung gained from specific infringing parts of the phones, not necessarily based on the entire product. The $399 million in penalty -- equivalent to the total profit Samsung gained from

Technology Dec. 7, 2016

US court sides with Samsung over patent battle with Apple

Hearing fails to deliver, only scars corporate image

The parliamentary hearing Tuesday to question nine business moguls involved in a political scandal failed to reveal new facts, leaving only scars on the companies’ reputations, industry watchers said. The rare televised hearing failed to hit the spot as lawmakers repeated outdated and often irrelevant questions and chiefs feigned ignorance.“There were no new facts discovered from the hearing. The same questions that have been addressed during the prosecution’s investigation achieved little excep

Industry Dec. 6, 2016

Hearing fails to deliver, only scars corporate image

Korean TV shares drop to below 5% in China

The market shares of televisions made by Korean electronics makers in China have dropped below 5 percent due to strong sales of the appliances made by Chinese companies, according to research firm IHS on Monday. IHS data showed the market shares of TVs made by Chinese firms have steadily risen from 76.6 percent in 2014 to 81.9 percent in 2015. The figure increased to 84.3 percent this year through September. (Herald DB)Meanwhile, the portion of Korean TV makers, including Samsung Electronics and

Technology Dec. 5, 2016

Korean TV shares drop to below 5% in China

Lenovo rolls out augmented reality smartphone in Korea

Chinese tech company Lenonvo announced Monday that it is rolling out its augmented reality smartphone Phab 2 Pro in the Korean market on Tuesday.The Phab 2 Pro is the world’s first smartphone to include Tango -- a new technology from Google that enables augmented reality gaming and utilities. The technology allows users to place virtual objects over the real world through 3-D. For instance, a user can install an app to see how new furniture would look in their home, while raising virtual pets an

Technology Dec. 5, 2016

Lenovo rolls out augmented reality smartphone in Korea

Articles by Shin Ji-hye