Japan has long remained an untapped market for Korean firms, where even the likes of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor have almost no presence. Currently, Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has a tiny 5 percent market share there. Not to mention the soured relationship between Seoul and Tokyo over wartime history and trade disputes in recent years. Japanese consumers have remained loyal to local brands such as Sony and Toyota that compete head-on with their Korean rivals

Industry Feb. 13, 2022

Samsung Electronics said Friday its subsidiary Harman, the US automotive solutions maker, has acquired German auto tech startup Apostera to bolster its leadership in the burgeoning connected car technology market. With the latest deal, Harman aims to further diversity its automotive product offerings using Apostera’s specialty in augmented reality and mixed reality software solutions. Established in 2017, the Munich-based Apostera supplies AR solutions for automotive head-up displays a

Technology Feb. 11, 2022

Samsung Electronics has come under heightened pressure to offer hefty pay increases amid strike threats from its minority labor unions over stalled wage talks, according to industry sources Wednesday. As the Korean tech giant has no majority labor union, an in-house management-labor council has held wage talks since October last year. But the two sides have failed to narrow their differences until recently. Sources say the council’s employee representatives this week lodged new demands

Technology Feb. 9, 2022

NextRise 2022, Seoul, a global startup conference co-hosted by the Korea International Trade Association and Korea Development Bank, is set to be held in Seoul on June 16 and 17, with aims to connect startups and their potential business partners and spur innovation among them. Launched in 2019, the conference has become Asia’s largest startup fair in terms of the size. Last year’s event attracted some 12,000 visitors from around the world despite the coronavirus pandemic. This y

Technology Feb. 7, 2022

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a meeting in Riyadh Tuesday to bolster ties between the two countries beyond construction and infrastructure into more future-oriented fields such as hydrogen. During the talks, the two leaders agreed to build a hydrogen ecosystem where Saudi Arabia supplies carbon-neutral hydrogen and ammonia while South Korea helps the Arab nation operate hydrogen-powered cars and hydrogen facilit

Industry Jan. 19, 2022

LG Electronics said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mystic Story, a local music label led by singer-song writer Yoon Jong-shin, to debut its virtual human ambassador, Reah Keem, as a singer. Yoon, Mystic’s chief producer, will oversee the overall project from writing songs to vocal training for Keem. Her imminent debut was teased last week when LG unveiled a music video clip at the Consumer Electronics Show. “I want to be an artist who not just makes musi

Technology Jan. 11, 2022

The Consumer Electronics Show will be back in-person this week after going fully online last year, with a record number of Korean exhibitors flaunting their technological prowess. Kicking off its three-day run Wednesday in Las Vegas, the number of participating companies overall this year have been reduced by almost half to some 2,200 due to the protracted coronavirus pandemic. But facing the virus risk, a record number of 502 Korean companies, including 292 startups, are set to test their pot

Technology Jan. 4, 2022

Speculation is growing that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong may go on a work trip later this month possibly to China where the Korean tech giant is struggling to elevate smartphone and home appliance sales. According to industry sources on Monday, the de facto Samsung chief is expected to make another business trip during the court’s holiday recess that begins later this month. Lee has been appearing in court hearings every Thursday regarding the controversial merger deal

Technology Jan. 3, 2022

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who doubles as head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, suggested redefining private-public partnerships in his New Year’s message released Thursday, calling for a more mutually beneficial mechanism that helps spur innovations across industries. Chey urged businesses to first change their mindsets, saying that gone are the days where making profits, creating jobs and paying more taxes were considered their key responsibilities. “Things h

Industry Dec. 30, 2021

Samsung Group on Thursday denied a local media report that it was in talks with Biogen to acquire the US biotech company in a deal worth 50 trillion won ($42.2 billion). Calling the report “groundless,” a Samsung spokesperson said no such talks were underway and declined to comment further. Samsung’s pharmaceutical manufacturing unit, Samsung Biologics, also denied the report in a regulatory filing released later in the day. Earlier in the day, the Korea Economic Daily re

Industry Dec. 30, 2021

Samsung Electronics is expected to regain the top spot in the global semiconductor market by revenue this year, outpacing its archrival Intel for the first time in three years. According to estimates collected by market tracker FnGuide on Wednesday, the Korean tech giant is estimated to post 95.13 trillion won ($80.18 billion) in chip sales this year, up 30.6 percent from last year. The record figure is compared to Intel’s sales estimates of $75.5 billion, down 1 percent from a year ag

Technology Dec. 29, 2021

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will showcase 13 startup projects at the CES trade show next month to introduce their innovations to a global audience and gauge marketability. The Korean tech giant has nurtured in-house ventures under the C Lab Inside program since 2012. In 2018, the firm launched the C Lab Outside program to support outside startups as well. A total of 406 startups have been accelerated under the programs. For the upcoming CES, four in-house ventures are making their deb

Technology Dec. 28, 2021

The latest battlefield for the nation’s top three battery makers -- LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On -- is their new leaderships. High-profile executives, including a chaebol scion, have stepped in to nurture the battery-making units of LG, Samsung and SK as new growth engines. The Korean trio has seen a surge in battery output capacity this year amid soaring demand for electric vehicles around the world, especially in the all-important US market. Their market share reached

Technology Dec. 22, 2021

LG Group’s chemicals and battery units, LG Chem and LG Energy Solution, said Wednesday that they had acquired a 2.6 percent stake in Canadian battery recycling company Li-Cycle Holdings by investing 30 billion won ($25.3 million) each. Li-Cycle, based in Toronto, operates North America’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling facility. The firm recycles waste from the EV battery manufacturing process and recovers battery metals for reuse. The Canadian firm recently issued new shar

Technology Dec. 15, 2021

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won made a rare appearance in a session held by the nation’s top antitrust watchdog to defend his controversial stock purchase in 2017, when SK acquired a silicon wafer unit from its crosstown rival LG Group.  The Fair Trade Commission has reviewed the case over allegations that SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, deliberately helped its chairman purchase the stock at a cheaper price to benefit from hefty dividends.  The deliberation session was

Technology Dec. 15, 2021