A public apology delivered by a Samsung Electronics CEO earlier this month and a software update are not enough to conciliate customers’ anger, a US attorney claimed, urging the tech giant to provide compensation. Customers are disappointed largely because Samsung sold devices that are not what they meant to be and not as premium as they were promoted in terms of phone and battery performance, said David Buchanan, a partner at Seeger Weiss in New Jersey who is suing Samsung on behalf of

Technology March 29, 2022

SK Square, an investment arm of South Korea‘s third-largest conglomerate, said Monday it plans to spend at least 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion) over the next three years in the field of semiconductor chips and blockchain technology. It is the first time SK Square unveiled its investment roadmap since November, when it spun off from telecommunication affiliate SK Telecom. Under the plan, announced during its shareholder meeting held Monday, SK Square will target chip companies in the Uni

Technology March 28, 2022

US tech giant Dell Technologies and South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom said Monday they would forge a multi-access edge computing alliance to expand its global 5G footprint targeting enterprise and government clients. Under the plan, SK Telecom’s 5G MEC solutions -- ranging from network virtualization to MEC application for operation and user experience optimization -- will be mounted on Dell‘s servers to meet the global demand for 5G private network infrastructure. Moreover,

Technology March 28, 2022

The share price of South Korean telecommunications firm KT hit the highest level in a year on Friday, as its shareholder meeting and a carve-out of its key business is drawing to a close next week. A KT common share, which trades on the Korea Exchange, hit the 52-week high at 35,300 won ($28.84) during the intraday trade Friday. The closing price came to 35,000 won apiece, up 1.2 percent from Thursday. KT’s market cap on Thursday exceeded 9 trillion won for the first time in seven months

Technology March 27, 2022

South Korean business giants are venturing into the fledgling digital asset market and blockchain-related operations as they seek new business opportunities. On Friday, Ryu Young-sang, chief executive of SK Telecom, said in a shareholders meeting that the company plans to “adopt an economic system” to its own metaverse platform called ifland, a sign that digital currency tradable in the virtual world ecosystem could play a role. The news is in line with an announcement earlier th

Market March 27, 2022

South Korean energy-to-material firm Hanwha Solutions plans to acquire a 4.67 percent stake in Norway-based polysilicon manufacturer REC Silicon for $44 million to achieve a full-fledged US solar supply chain, the company said Thursday. Hanwha will buy the stake from Norwegian renewable energy investment firm Aker Horizons. With the deal, Hanwha will become the largest shareholder of REC Silicon that is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Earlier in January, Hanwha bought a 16.67 percent stak

Industry March 24, 2022

South Korea’s battery maker LG Energy Solution on Thursday announced plans to build a 4.8 trillion-won ($4.1 billion) lithium-ion battery plant in Ontario, Canada with carmaker Stellantis and a 1.7 trillion-won cylindrical battery plant in Arizona, a first of its kind in the United States. To support the plan, LG Energy Solution approved a combined capital commitment of $2 billion over the course of the construction, which gained board approval Wednesday, showed filings with the Financial

Technology March 24, 2022

SK Trading International, a subsidiary of South Korean refiner SK Innovation, announced Wednesday plans to purchase up to 200,000 barrels of “net-zero oil” each year for five years from US-based Occidental Petroleum Corp., in a move to use the sustainable commodity for commercial products. The affiliates of SK Group, South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate by assets, will use the oil for products including eco-friendly aviation fuel. SK’s purchase of net-zero oil will b

Technology March 23, 2022

LG AI Research, an in-house research hub of South Korea‘s fourth-largest conglomerate, said Wednesday it has opened a new research center in the United States. The center is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, near the University of Michigan. It is LG AI Research’s first overseas location. The new facility will be led by Lee Hong-lak, chief scientist of AI and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan. The center’s fundamental researc

Technology March 23, 2022

Posco Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Choi Jeong-woo met Alberto Fernandez, president of Argentina, just ahead of the construction of a $830 million lithium plant in the country, the South Korean company said Tuesday. Choi told Fernandez that the Argentinian government‘s support is critical to Posco‘s new growth momentum, as lithium is considered a key material for the battery component that powers ecofriendly vehicles, Korea’s largest steelmaker said in a statement

Industry March 22, 2022

South Korea is now experiencing a digital skill shortage among employers here as the country -- considered one of the most wired in the world -- is seeing local workers’ digital skills largely outdated in the wake of the cloud era, an estimate showed Tuesday. Over the next year alone, roughly 10 million more people in South Korea are estimated to require digital skills training, according to an estimate by consulting firm AlphaBeta. This is equivalent to some 37 percent of the workforce

Technology March 22, 2022

South Korea’s entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM is investing 100 billion won ($82.3 million) in KT StudioGenie, a media arm of the domestic telecommunications firm, in a bid to establish bilateral ties for media content targeting global audience, a filing showed Monday. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding the same day, setting a deadline for the acquisition 90 days after the announcement. As a result, CJ ENM will become a minority shareholder with nearly a 10 percent sta

Industry March 21, 2022

The 10th annual secondary battery event InterBattery gave visitors a glimpse of how close the world is to the era where electric vehicles go mainstream. Cars showcased in the three-day event at Coex in Seoul beginning Thursday indicated room for wider applications of batteries, even to the degree of reincarnating the gas-guzzling cars that were once declared dead, and of having exotic cars and luxury cars keep their performance afloat while run on electric batteries. US carmaker General Motor&

Technology March 18, 2022

Samsung Electronics unveiled its new midrange smartphones -- Galaxy A33 5G and A53 5G -- at the Galaxy A event held Thursday, a week after its smartphone rival Apple came out with the latest iPhone SE series. The new lineup is part of the South Korean tech giant’s move aimed at giving Android users access to 5G connectivity at a more affordable price and to lure more people into its own Galaxy ecosystem. “We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the positive impa

Technology March 17, 2022

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an additional 16-month jail sentence to former Samsung Electronics Vice President Kang Kyung-hoon for his attempts to break up a labor union in South Korea‘s largest conglomerate. This is the final court ruling that found the executive guilty over his scheme to sabotage labor union activities at Everland, an operator of an amusement park in Korea. Everland was considered a key affiliate in Samsung’s corporate structure, and has been merged into S

Industry March 17, 2022