[Africa Forum] Korea ready to support Africa’s FDI push

African ambassadors and Korean trade experts explored the economic potential of bilateral ties between Korea and Africa during the Africa Day Business Forum, co-hosted by The Korea Herald and the African Group of Ambassadors in Seoul on Thursday. In a panel discussion mediated by Tunisian Ambassador to Korea Kais Darragi, they discussed ways to attract more investment into African countries. Hong Soon-young, vice president of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, urged African nations to go all-out t

May 26, 2024

Samsung denies report on HBM chips failing Nvidia tests

Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 memory chipmaker, on Friday denied a report that its high bandwidth memory chips had yet to pass Nvidia's tests for use in the US chip giant's AI processors. Samsung said testing for HBM supply is progressing "smoothly" with various global partners. "We are currently working closely with multiple companies and continuously testing technology and performance,” the Korean tech giant said in a statement. “We are cond

May 24, 2024

South Korea unveils W26tr support program for chip industry

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday unveiled a national support program worth 26 trillion won ($19 billion) to boost the country's semiconductor industry, in a move to up its game amid the global competition. The comprehensive chip support package includes financial programs, research and development strategies and infrastructure support. But it came short of direct subsidies which industry players here have been requesting to compete with international rivals. "With tax c

May 23, 2024

LG, UNESCO to develop online education course on AI ethics

LG AI Research, LG Group’s artificial intelligence think tank, said Wednesday that it has inked a strategic partnership with UNESCO to develop an education course on AI ethics. The partnership, signed on the sidelines of this week’s AI Seoul Summit, LG and UNCESO agreed to convene an advisory group of international experts within the year. The education course is slated to be launched by the end of 2025, and LG said some progress could be shared at the AI Action Summit in Paris next

May 23, 2024

A.Virtual's air sanitizer hits Dubai market

Air sterilization solutions provider A.Virtual said Wednesday it would introduce its air sanitizer to the Dubai market through a partnership with Sharaf DG, the largest electronics retailer in the Middle East. A.Virtual's air sanitizer with sterilization capabilities will be exclusively available in Sharaf DG's five stores in Dubai, located in Dubai Mall, Deira City Centre, Times Square Centre, Mirdif City Centre and Dubai Hills. Sharaf DG operates over 40 stores across the Middle East

May 22, 2024

Global leaders vow to promote safe, inclusive AI at Seoul summit

Leaders of major global powers Tuesday adopted a declaration pledging to promote safe, innovative and inclusive artificial intelligence amid the fast-evolving tech environment. The “Seoul Declaration” was adopted during a virtual leaders' session of the AI Seoul Summit, co-hosted by President Yoon Suk Yeol and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The declaration aims to address the broad spectrum of opportunities and challenges posed by the design, development, deployment and use

May 22, 2024

[Herald Interview] 'Lifting regulations key to corporate push for RE100'

Regulations are holding back companies like Samsung Electronics in speeding up their renewable energy commitments, so the government should remove them and pursue grid transformation, the head of Climate Group said Tuesday. Noting how Korea had a lot of regulatory limitations on implementing renewable energy plants, Helen Clarkson, the chief executive officer of the London-based entity, highlighted the role of the government and that its initial moves are the key for the country to "get on

May 22, 2024

14 global tech giants adopt business pledge on 'responsible' development of AI

A group of South Korean and global tech companies adopted a joint pledge Wednesday, vowing to responsibly develop and use artificial intelligence and to address social challenges with the technology. The Seoul AI Business Pledge was announced by 14 companies, including Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., Naver Corp., Kakao Corp. and KT Corp., as well as global big tech companies, such as Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and IBM, during the opening ceremony of the AI Global Forum in Seoul. The AI Glob

May 22, 2024

Dabeeo launches palm oil farm AI monitoring project in Indonesia, covering area larger than Seoul

Leading geospatial intelligence AI technology firm Dabeeo on Monday commenced its latest AI monitoring project of palm oil farms in Indonesia, covering an area that is larger than the South Korean capital of Seoul. The company inked a deal with Tunas Sawa Erma Group, one of Indonesia's major palm oil producers, for the project, spanning across a total of 765 square kilometers. "While high-precision satellite imagery is commonly used for military and IT purposes, cases like this one,

May 22, 2024

K-water boasts 'super-gap' technoloiges at World Water Forum

Korea Water Resources Corp., or K-water, said Tuesday that it presented three "super gap" technologies the agency has developed to tackle water issues at the 10th World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia. The technologies include digital twin technology for water management, AI-based water purification plants, and a smart water network management system. Recognized for their potential to tackle the unpredictable and unprecedented climate crisis, they were featured in a special session at

May 21, 2024

XR partnership between LG, Meta falls through

The highly-publicized partnership between LG Electronics and Meta for an extended reality device seems to have fallen through largely due to the lukewarm outlook for the XR market overall, according to industry sources on Monday. “LG and Meta may continue collaborating in other areas such as artificial intelligence and metaverse. But for an XR device, they are pushing back their plans after seeing the sluggish sales of the earlier models, especially Apple’s Vision Pro,” an indu

May 20, 2024

LG CNS launches Orelo conference interpreting solution

Korean IT service provider LG CNS said on Monday it has launched a multi-lingual video conference interpretation solution, called “Orelo,” which can simultaneously interpret up to three different languages in real-time. The solution can distinguish about 100 languages by voice alone and provides simultaneous interpretation in the languages used by the meeting participants. It recognizes the statement in a certain language and immediately translates it into selected languages and prov

May 20, 2024

Samsung eyes W1tr in sales of pricey capacitors for cars

Samsung-Electro Mechanics, a leading electronic parts maker affiliated with Samsung Electronics, has set a sales goal of 1 trillion won ($736 million) for its flagship Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor or MLCC products this year, strategically targeting the automotive sector. "Leveraging our technological prowess nurtured in the IT sector, the company aims to expand its portfolio to servers for AI services and automotive solutions, the two burgeoning markets for MLCC," Kim Wi-heon, the MLC

May 19, 2024

LG Uplus unveils new slogan for AI innovation

LG Uplus, one of the nation's top telecom carriers, on Sunday unveiled a new brand slogan “Growth Leading AX Company" to accelerate innovation centering on the artificial intelligence transformation, referred to as AX. The company said the latest announcement came during an internal online session held on Friday to look back on its first quarter performance and share future business directions and plans. During the meeting, CEO Hwang Hyeon-sik noted that it became necessary to

May 19, 2024

Samsung expected to introduce new Exynos processor in next Galaxy series

Samsung Electronics is expected to introduce its new flagship Exynos 2500 mobile processor made with its cutting-edge 3-nanometer process, in the upcoming Galaxy S25 smartphone lineup, according to industry sources on Friday. The envisioned chipset, which will be produced on Samsung Foundry’s second-generation 3nm process node using the advanced Gate-all-around technology, will be designed with the main focus on improving power efficiency. Samsung, the world's top memory chipmaker, ha

May 17, 2024

Kepco to raise electricity prices as total debt soars past W200tr

Despite self-rescue efforts, a hike in electricity prices is inevitable, the Korea Electric Power Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kim Dong-cheol said Thursday. Explaining how the company was able to reduce its snowballing debt through all-out efforts, including a massive personnel restructuring, Kim noted that Korea's electricity prices are far lower than other countries. "The cost of purchasing electricity surged from 2021, but we could not shift the burden into electricity prices, and

May 16, 2024

Hyundai, KAIST develop world’s 1st technology to extend lifespan of LFP battery

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have developed the world’s first technology to extend the lifespan of electric vehicle batteries by 10 to 20 percent, KAIST said Thursday. The study, which was supported by Hyundai Motor Group, came up with a triazole-motivated electrolyte additive that can significantly increase the duration of lithium-ion batteries. According to the researchers, the new electrolyte additive succeeded in protecting lithium iron phosphat

May 16, 2024

Miracell showcases stem cell technology at Milan trade show

South Korean stem cell research company Miracell said Thursday that it showcased its stem cell extraction system, Smart M-Cell, at the recent 21st ESSKA congress held in Milan. The biennial European Society for Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery, and Arthroscopy congress brings together worldwide orthopedic surgeons, clinicians and scientists to discuss the latest advancements in sports medicine, joint diseases and surgery. This year’s conference, held May 8-10, featured over 130 educationa

May 16, 2024

Head of Line operator said to stress job security at meeting with Korean employees

The Japanese head of the operator of the popular Line messenger app attended a meeting with Naver Corp.'s employees and was said to pledge job security, an industry source said Wednesday, as the South Korean internet giant is under pressure from Tokyo to sell stake in Line. Takeshi Idezawa, president of LY Corp., the operator of Line controlled by a joint venture between Naver and SoftBank of Japan, attended the meeting with employees of Line Plus Corp. on Tuesday, according to the source.

May 15, 2024

LG Electronics strengthens medical robot services

LG Electronics joined hands Hanllym University Sacred Heart Hospital as part of its effort to strengthen medical robot services with its “affectionate intelligence” robot, Cloi, the company said on Wednesday. In an agreement, LG and the hospital agreed to collaborate to discover various scenarios of when robots can be used in medical institutes, and establish demonstration cases within domestic and international medical institutions. "With LG's Cloi robot taking charge of r

May 15, 2024