Parties rush to roll out competing chip bills with heftier incentives

South Korea’s rival parties are introducing stronger chipmaking support bills to boost the domestic semiconductors industry, sharing the consensus that existing policies are not sufficient for Korean chipmakers to compete against global rivals backed by massive financial grants. On Tuesday, Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea introduced a bill that involves a whopping 100 trillion won ($72 billion) subsidy program. Kim's proposal seeks to extend an exis

June 26, 2024

New Galaxy foldable phones to debut in Paris on July 10

Samsung Electronics plans to unveil its highly anticipated next-generation Galaxy Z series infusing Galaxy AI at the upcoming event titled "Galaxy Unpacked 2024: Galaxy AI is Here” in Paris on July 10. The Korean tech giant released a teaser trailer through its YouTube channel on Wednesday, offering a tantalizing glimpse into the event that will be broadcast globally. The 15-second clip features iconic imagery of the Eiffel Tower, the Galaxy AI logo and a silhouette of Samsung’s

June 26, 2024

Samsung steps up CXL development with Red Hat-certified infrastructure

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of memory chips, announced Tuesday it built the industry’s first certified Compute Express Link infrastructure, a crucial step not just for its product verification, but also for creating an open-source ecosystem. Samsung Memory Research Center, located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, received the certification from Red Hat, the world’s leading open-source solutions provider, which allows the tech giant to directly verify CXL-relat

June 25, 2024

LG Uplus launches ixi-GEN telecom-specific AI

LG Uplus, one of the top three telecommunications providers in South Korea, launched its self-developed generative artificial intelligence model ixi-GEN on Tuesday. Ixi-Gen is a small language model that learned LG Uplus’ communication and platform data based on LG AI Research Institute’s Exaone, a multimodal AI model capable of bilingual language processing and the bidirectional generation of language and images, developed in 2021. It can be used quickly and cost-effectively and mit

June 25, 2024

LG Innotek eyes W2tr in automotive sensor sales by 2030

LG Innotek on Monday set an ambitious goal of achieving 2 trillion won ($1.44 billion) in automotive sensor sales by 2030. The company said it will speed up efforts to adopt its cutting-edge optical technology to diverse future mobility and automotive sensing solutions. Its strategic focus will be lidar, the light detection and ranging sensors that are crucial for self-driving vehicles. Earlier this month, the company launched a new team solely dedicated to lidar development immediately under th

June 24, 2024

LG chief travels to US to examine future growth engines including AI

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo traveled to the US last week to check on the operations of the group’s major affiliates and examine future growth engines, including artificial intelligence, robots, biotechnology and cleantech -- technology that reduces negative impacts on the environment -- the company said on Sunday. During the four-day trip from June 17, travelling across the country from Tennessee to the California's Silicon Valley, Koo also met with Jim Keller, the chief executive

June 23, 2024

Why Korea's 8th attempt to launch 4th telecom carrier fell through

South Korea's recent attempt to launch the fourth telecom carrier -- the eighth of its kind -- fell through again, raising skepticism about the government's preparedness and the feasibility of the plan itself. The Ministry of Science and ICT earlier this month decided to cancel the license of Stage X as the fourth mobile carrier, citing a lack of trust in its capitalization plan. Amid the long-standing dominance of three telecom carriers -- SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus, the govern

June 23, 2024

[Photo News] Samsung promotes Olympics

The facade of Palais Garnier in Paris is covered in a Samsung Electronics' advertisement promoting its Galaxy Z Flip 5 series and the 2024 Paris Games, in this photo provided by the smartphone maker on Sunday. The tech giant, a worldwide Olympics and Paralympics partner, is launching its "Open always wins" campaign focused on the importance of openness and inclusivity, to run through the end of September. (Samsung Electronics)

June 23, 2024

SK Group set for major revamp for management efficiency

SK Group, the country's second-largest conglomerate by asset, is speeding up efforts to carry out a comprehensive overhaul of some 200 affiliates and business portfolios, starting with selling its affiliates and pushing for mergers. SK Networks announced Thursday that it is selling 100 percent of its share of SK Rent-a-Car, its rental car service, to Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity fund, for 820 billion won ($600 million). The move comes as the company intends to

June 20, 2024

Samsung Tizen OS integrates AI features for expanded connectivity

Samsung Electronics has been enhancing the reach of its proprietary Tizen operating system by incorporating artificial intelligence capabilities. According to Samsung Newsroom on Thursday, Tizen has been deployed in approximately 270 million units of Samsung smart TVs released as of the end of last year. Considering that it was installed in about 50 million units in 2015, it recorded a growth rate of about 440 percent. “Samsung Tizen is preparing for another leap forward by evolving into

June 20, 2024

[Photo News] Robotic butler for smart building

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday that it has dispatched robotic services to the Factorial Seongsu office building in eastern Seoul. The DAL-e Delivery robot by Hyundai Motor and Kia and the parking robot by Hyundai Wia will automate services ranging from parking vehicles up to 2.2 tons to delivering items within the building weighing up to 10 kilograms. The parking robot will also synchronize with Hyundai-Kia’s automatic charging robot, set to arrive in the third quarter at the same build

June 20, 2024

SKT-led quantum alliance named 'X Quantum'

SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier by membership, on Wednesday unveiled the official name of its quantum alliance: X Quantum. In March, SK Telecom allied with six other companies -- Nokia, SOS Lab, Xgate, Wooriro, KCS and IDQ Korea -- to promote developments in the quantum ecosystem through exploring joint marketing and business opportunities. Regarding X Quantum, SK Telecom explained that it encompasses the identity of the “quantum frontier,” which plays a role

June 19, 2024

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 to livestream Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony

As the Paris 2024 Olympics is set to hold its opening ceremony outside the confines of a stadium for the very first time, Samsung Electronics will install its flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones inside the city to broadcast the iconic event, the tech giant said Tuesday. Samsung, an official partner for the Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic events, announced that it will install more than 200 units of its most up-to-date smartphone at the bow and sides of each of the 85 vessels that will be carr

June 18, 2024

Samsung, SNU to set up joint AI research lab

Samsung Electronics and Seoul National University are collaborating to establish a joint research center dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence technology and nurturing talent in the field. Samsung Electronics held a signing ceremony Monday at SNU’s Global Engineering Center for Engineers in southern Seoul to formalize the establishment of the joint AI research center. Key figures including Cheun Kyung-whoon, president and chief technology officer at Samsung's DX or device exp

June 17, 2024

SK chief claims 'flagrant error' in divorce settlement ruling

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won issued an apology Monday for raising public concerns with his high-profile divorce settlement but made it clear that he will appeal to the Supreme Court because a “flagrant error” was found in the court ruling that now threatens his grip on the telecom-to-chips conglomerate. Last month, the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of Chey's estranged wife Roh Soh-young in their divorce settlement and ordered the SK chief to pay 1.38 trillion won ($1 billion

June 17, 2024

Top 4 conglomerates convene strategy meetings to navigate uncertainties

Top conglomerates in Korea are set to hold their strategic meetings this month to navigate the ongoing economic slowdown and geopolitical uncertainties according to industry sources on Sunday. Samsung Electronics, the country's No. 1 conglomerate in terms of assets, will kick off its series of strategic meetings from Tuesday to Thursday. Top executives are expected to convene to discuss the company’s global strategies in key technology sectors, including artificial intelligence, which touc

June 16, 2024

Science Ministry to cancel license of Stage X as new mobile carrier

South Korea's Science Ministry said Friday that it will revoke the license of new mobile carrier Stage X for failing to meet legal requirements to run the business, including paid-in capital of 205 billion won ($149 million) that was due last month. The Ministry of Science and ICT will carry out a hearing on Stage X's case to finalize its decision on canceling the designation of the firm as a frequency allocation target corporation. Stage X had been expected to become the country'

June 14, 2024

Line Pay service to be terminated in Japan next year: LY

LY Corp., the operator of popular mobile messenger Line, has announced its plan to terminate its Line Pay service in Japan next year, amid criticism over Japan's apparent pressure to shed Naver Corp., South Korea's biggest internet portal operator, from LY. LY, a 50-50 joint venture between Japan's SoftBank and South Korea's Naver, said Thursday the mobile payment service will be terminated by April 30, 2025, in Japan, citing "optimal allocation of management resources.&

June 14, 2024

Samsung chief holds meetings with global tech CEOs in US

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong held consecutive meetings with the chiefs of global tech giants including Meta, Amazon and Qualcomm, in an effort to strengthen ties and boost collaboration during his two-week trip to the US, the company said on Thursday. Lee shared insights and prospects over advanced technology markets with the tech leaders and also checked on the company's business operations, the company said. In his meeting with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon on Monday, Lee discu

June 13, 2024

Tmax’s Gaia allows to build apps without coding

Korean software developer Tmax Group on Thursday unveiled a groundbreaking super-app platform, Gaia, which allows users to create apps without coding skills, declaring a new era of digital transformation. “There have been numerous attempts to achieve great IT integration, but no one has been able to achieve effective integration in the right way,” Chairman and CTO Park Dae-yeon said during a press conference held in Seoul. “The IT grand integration presented by Tmax refers to i

June 13, 2024