South Korea’s antitrust regulator has opened an investigation into “free delivery” promotions widely used by food ordering and delivery platforms here, according to industry sources on Monday. The Fair Trade Commission will look into whether delivery services have been offered actually free of charge without the costs being shouldered by restaurant owners or consumers. Earlier in the day, Rep. Yoon Hang-hong of the ruling People Power Party revealed documents that Baedal Minjok

Industry Nov. 4, 2024

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee told employees Friday to fully commit to strengthening their key technological leadership to secure uncompromising quality competitiveness. “Without change, neither innovation nor growth is possible," he said during a joint commemorative speech delivered at the tech giant’s 55th anniversary celebration in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. “Let’s proactively secure technologies that do not yet exist in the world, techn

Technology Nov. 1, 2024

Samsung Electronics’ depositary receipts listed in Luxembourg Stock Exchange are to transfer to the London Stock Exchange, according to the company’s filing on Friday. A depositary receipt is a financial security that allows investors to own shares in a foreign company without trading on a foreign market. The decision came upon the tech giant’s board of directors' decision to delist the DRs from Luxembourg, the filing showed. Based on Samsung Electronics' preferred sh

Industry Nov. 1, 2024

The world’s first wireless and transparent OLED TV and a premium built-in appliance introduced by LG Electronics have been selected among the 200 best inventions of the year by Time magazine. The transparent OLED TV, dubbed LG Signature OLED T, was included in the consumer electronics criteria, according to industry sources on Thursday. “The TV’s always-on-display feature can display ever-changing artwork, or you can turn it off to simply look like a pane of glass,” the m

Industry Oct. 31, 2024

LG Innotek said Wednesday it has developed a high-performance eco-friendly magnet that eliminates the use of heavy rare earth elements. Heavy rare earth elements have been critical for magnets to retain their strength at high temperatures. However, these elements are predominantly sourced from specific countries like China, posing price volatility and supply instability risks, alongside significant environmental damage due to mining. Following its 2021 achievement of reducing rare earth usage by

Industry Oct. 30, 2024

SK Networks said Wednesday it has joined forces with Malaysia’s Sunway Group, a leading conglomerate in Southeast Asia with key interests in real estate and construction, to drive artificial intelligence innovation. Founded in 1974, Sunway is one of Malaysia’s top 20 conglomerates, operating in 13 sectors across 50 countries with a market capitalization exceeding 10 trillion won ($7.2 billion). Under the partnership, the two companies plan to collaborate in the AI sector across Kor

Industry Oct. 30, 2024

Lambda CEO Stephen Balaban expressed his anticipation of teaming up with SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier by membership, ahead of his upcoming visit to the country as a keynote speaker for the SK AI Summit on Nov. 4-5. “As we continue working toward a world where access to computing is as easy and ubiquitous as electricity, there’s no better partner than SK Telecom -- a telecommunications company that connects people around the world and truly understands how A

Industry Oct. 29, 2024

SK Inc., the holding company of South Korea's SK Group, has unveiled a three-year corporate value-up plan that includes enhanced shareholder benefits. In a plan unveiled Tuesday, the company vowed an annual dividend of about 280 billion won ($202 million), maintaining a minimum payout of 5,000 won per common share annually until 2026. Additionally, the company plans to buy back and retire 1 to 2 percent of its market capitalization in treasury shares each year. These efforts will be finance

Industry Oct. 29, 2024

South Korean gaming giant NCSoft said Friday it has decided to separate three of its intellectual properties and establish an independent game development studio system. This move is part of its efforts to strengthen its global competitiveness by adopting a multistudio system. In a bold move to accelerate change, NCSoft separated its in-house IP -- new game series -- into independent studios: TL, LLL and Tactan. The new system will allow each studio to maximize creativity and innovation in game

Industry Oct. 25, 2024

SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker by revenue, said Thursday it logged all-time high profit, sales and net income in the July-September period this year, riding on the robust demand for its artificial intelligence chips. The company reported a quarterly operating profit of 7.03 trillion won ($5.1 billion), compared with a loss of 1.79 trillion won a year ago. The figure is higher than the consensus of 6.76 trillion won by local analysts provided by market intelligence F

Technology Oct. 24, 2024

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation decided Wednesday to raise industrial electricity rates by an average of 9.7 percent from Thursday, prompting immediate complaints among local businesses already reeling from rising costs and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. "The government and Kepco had no choice but to comprehensively consider the ongoing difficulties faced by the public and small business owners, as well as an economic situation in which consumer sentiment has not yet rec

Industry Oct. 23, 2024

South Korean IT giant Kakao on Tuesday unveiled its new conversational artificial intelligence service Kanana at the annual developers conference dubbed "if kakaoAI 2024." “Kakao’s key competitive advantage lies in connecting relationships and in the era of generative AI. We aim to offer hyper-personalized AI services that consider individuals’ context and emotions in various relationships and conversations,” CEO Chung Shin-a said in her keynote speech at the ev

Technology Oct. 22, 2024

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo will reportedly receive business reports from major affiliates sequentially over the next month, starting with the electronic affiliates on Monday to establish next year’s business plans, according to industry sources, Monday. LG holds strategic meetings in the first half of each year to discuss future strategies. Business meetings in the second half focus on business performance and plans for the following year, with an emphasis on enhancing customer value a

Industry Oct. 21, 2024

Samsung Electronics’ chip division is likely to be dethroned by TSMC, the world's largest foundry company that manufactures Nvidia chips, in terms of the latest quarterly sales, according to industry sources on Sunday. Samsung’s third-quarter sales are estimated to reach a record high of 79 trillion won ($57.7 billion), up 17.2 percent from a year ago. Although the Korean tech giant has not released detailed reports on the performance of its key business units for the quarter ea

Industry Oct. 20, 2024

LG Uplus CEO Hwang Hyeon-sik on Wednesday stressed service quality as the top priority in the telecom carrier’s ongoing efforts for artificial intelligence-based corporate transformation or AX. “The most fundamental aspect of growing into an AX company should be service quality,” the CEO said during a town hall meeting with employees on Wednesday. “No matter how innovative AI technology may be, it cannot create true customer satisfaction if not backed by quality.” &

Industry Oct. 17, 2024