LG Display said Thursday that the company has raised 20 billion yuan ($2.91 billion) in syndicated loans with Chinese banks to finance the construction of its organic light-emitting diode plant in Guangzhou. The panel-maker said its Chief Financial Officer Kim Sang-don met on Wednesday with officials from the China Construction Bank, the Bank of Communication, the Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of China to ink the deal.  LG Display officials celebrate a 20 billion yuan loan deal with Ch

Technology Dec. 6, 2018

South Korea’s biggest conglomerate Samsung on Thursday conducted the smallest scale of senior executive promotions since 2015, indicating that the tech giant prefers stability over change for next year. Two major promotions were made in the C-level reshuffle. Kim Ki-nam, previously chief executive officer of Samsung’s device solutions division and chairman of the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, was promoted to vice chairman in recognition of his leadership that led the company to unpre

Technology Dec. 6, 2018

Samsung Electronics on Thursday promoted Kim Ki-nam, chief executive officer of Samsung’s device solutions division, to vice chairman in recognition of his leadership that led the company to unprecedented performance this year. The promotion was made as part of the tech titan’s annual personnel reshuffle. Kim has been leading Samsung’s most lucrative semiconductor division since November 2017 as he was promoted to the CEO position by Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong while the latter was in jail for inv

Technology Dec. 6, 2018

Tech Brunch breaks down how complex technologies work. -- Ed.Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic component affiliate of Samsung since 1973, had belatedly joined a Japan-led market for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) for electronics in 1986. But decades later, it is now seeking to lead the specific market with its signature nanotechnology and ultra-thin technology on new demand for the capacitors in the era of the fifth-generation network. “It was a huge challenge for the company that u

Technology Dec. 5, 2018

Samsung Electronics announced Tuesday the tech titan will extend its official sponsorship for the Olympics until 2028, including the 2024 Paris and 2028 Los Angeles events, dispelling rumors about its possible withdrawal after the company’s involvement in a former president’s bribery scandal. Samsung said it signed the deal with the International Olympic Committee at Hotel Shilla in central Seoul, attended by its heir Lee Jae-yong and IOC President Thomas Bach, for a sponsorship amount publicly

Technology Dec. 4, 2018

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics is poised to conduct its year-end personnel reshuffle, which is widely expected to reflect anticipated slow growth for the chip and smartphone markets in 2019, industry sources said Monday.Reports and sources gave mixed views, with some predicting the reshuffle would be “conservative,” and others forecasting it would be aimed at “reducing the top brass.” Samsung is highly anticipated to promote only a minimum number of senior officials to executives in

Technology Dec. 3, 2018

To mark the official launch of the fifth-generation of mobile network, South Korean mobile carriers held various celebrations on Saturday, and vowed to aggressively expand their 5G infrastructure across the country in preparation for launch on smartphones in March, according to the telcos on Sunday. SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho made a video call from the mobile operator’s network control center in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province to a staff manager in the company’s Myeong-dong office in central Seoul,

Technology Dec. 2, 2018

 Samsung Electronics on Friday pledged financial compensation for all victims of work-related diseases who fell sick after working for the company’s semiconductor division, by 2028, admitting that it had overlooked potential health risks.“Samsung will comply with the compensation plan set by the mediation committee, and will provide the compensation as planned by Oct. 31, 2028 for all victims, including those who will be included as new victims by then,” said Kim Ki-nam, chief executive officer

Industry Nov. 23, 2018

[KH Explains]: Answers to some of the most frequently raised questions regarding Samsung BioLogics caseOn Nov. 14, the market was thrown into commotion, and heated debates arose, as the South Korean financial regulator Financial Services Commission ruled Samsung BioLogics had intentionally violated accounting rules in 2015. It ordered a halt in stock trading of the biopharmaceutical company, which will go through an examination that could lead to delisting, in theory, in the worst-case scenario.

Economy Nov. 22, 2018

Care for unborn babies, called “taegyo” in Korean, exists both in Asian and Western countries to give birth to a healthy child. But prenatal care takes on a much more ambitious spin in South Korea, with the focus largely on educating – literally -- the fetus in pursuit of having “smarter kids.”“The very first and repetitive phrase that I heard from both the in-laws and my parents during my pregnancy was ‘do this and that to give birth to a smart baby,’” said Kwon Mi-young, a 36-year-old working

Social Affairs Nov. 22, 2018

Samsung Electronics will continue working to improve the accuracy of its artificial intelligence platform Bixby’s speech recognition by providing a comprehensive tool for third-party developers around the world, the tech titan’s officials said at a forum Tuesday. At the first Bixby Developer Day in Seoul, Samsung unveiled the details of the newest software development tool dubbed “Bixby Developer Studio” to Korean developers and encouraged them to join the tech company’s journey to develop Bixby

Technology Nov. 20, 2018

Koh Dong-jin, CEO of Samsung Electronics’ smartphone business, is making all-out efforts to seek a breakthrough in the company with the introduction of the 10th edition of the Galaxy and the world’s first commercial foldable smartphone. 　Koh recently said in a corporate message to executives and employees of the information technology and mobile communications division of Samsung that he felt “sorry about the currently struggling status of the Samsung smartphone business and will do my best to o

Technology Nov. 19, 2018

South Korea’s leading mobile carrier KT said Monday it has opened a smart farm with cutting-edge information and communications technology in the United Arab Emirates, marking the company’s first ICT export to the Middle East region. The KT smart farm, about 600 square meters in size, is located in the Emirate of Sharjah, the third-largest region after Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It was established in cooperation with the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, which offers rehabilitation and education

Technology Nov. 19, 2018

　The decision by South Korea’s financial authority to suspend trading of Samsung BioLogics shares on the stock market last week not only deals a blow to the biotech company but also puts the brakes on a high-profile succession scheme for the conglomerate, controlled by descendants of the founder, industry watchers said Sunday.　On Wednesday, the Financial Services Commission concluded that Samsung BioLogics had “arbitrarily interpreted the accounting rules and intentionally breached them in 2015.

Industry Nov. 18, 2018

Seongnae-dong in Gangdong District of Seoul was run-down and quiet, a neighborhood occupied mostly by the elderly. But with Kang Full, a popular webtoon artist who has been living in the area since he was 2 years old, the old town has turned into a lively and vivid one with his comic characters. Created in 2013, the Kang Full Cartoon Alley in Seongnae-dong is full of his artworks featuring popular characters and images from his comics. Artists and students from Sungsu High School’s art club join

Culture Nov. 15, 2018