LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan urged employees on Wednesday to embrace a mindset of "preparing for the worst and hoping for the best" to navigate a new year marked by uncertainties. During the year-end talk with employees, dubbed "CEO Fun Talk," Cho shared detailed insights into anticipated changes in the global business environment for 2025, amid intensifying global competition and supply chain issues. "A crisis is a combination of risk and opportunity. In times of cris

Samsung Electronics announced Wednesday that it will unveil a new lineup of home appliances powered by artificial intelligence at CES, the world’s largest tech trade show taking place in Las Vegas from Jan. 7-10, 2025. The lineup includes AI-driven refrigerators, washing machines and dryers designed to streamline household tasks and enhance connectivity. Central to these devices is Samsung’s “AI Home” solution, which allows users to remotely monitor and control all compat

Karrot, the go-to app for buying and selling secondhand items, is increasingly becoming a hub for forging friendships, particularly among foreigners seeking language exchange opportunities in South Korea. In Seoul's Yongsan-gu on Tuesday, a search for “Korean friends” revealed several postings reflecting a growing trend of cross-cultural connections on the app, which is South Korea's largest community marketplace platform. One user, identified as "chamhug," wrot

Hanmi Semiconductor Vice Chair Kwak Dong-shin has been promoted to take the helm of the chip packaging equipment maker, after leading the development and launch of a flagship product used in producing next-generation artificial intelligence DRAM chips. Kwak joined the company in 1998, eight years after his late father Kwak Noh-kwon founded the company in 1980. Kwak Dong-shin has been the effective leader of the chip equipment firm since 2007, when his father stepped back from front-line manageme

South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics's Washington office has hired a new lobbying firm in the US to bolster its negotiating leverage with Washington, amid rising concerns over US President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats. According to a US disclosure report Tuesday, LG Electronics USA, the company’s US arm, has recently hired Capitol Counsel, a government relations firm in Washington, to lobby on trade and supply chain issues. Lisa Whisler, a lobbyist at the Capitol

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also heads the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Tuesday urged policymakers to ensure consistent economic policies to support businesses amid growing uncertainty following the National Assembly’s impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law decree. During a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, Chey relayed the business community’s concerns regarding stalled economic bills and the challenge of navigati

An artificial intelligence program has gotten a near-perfect score on the Korean language test of the state-run college entrance exam, according to the company behind the software. Korean startup company Markr AI said the o1-Preview model, developed by OpenAI, got all but one question right in the Korean language section of this year's Suneung, held in Nov. 14 and was used for 2025 college admissions. This gave the AI a score of 97 out of possible 100 points, which corresponds to a "

LG Innotek said Tuesday it has developed a high-performance in-cabin camera module equipped with a 5-megapixel RGB-infrared dual sensor for automotive use. The new technology enables real-time monitoring of vehicle occupants, detecting driver conditions while checking seatbelt usage for front and rear passengers. With the rise of autonomous driving, demand for in-cabin monitoring systems has surged to ensure passenger safety. The key feature of LG’s solution is its versatility, offering mu

A former top trade adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump during his first administration warned that Trump's second term would likely adopt a more “aggressive” stance on trade, urging South Korean businesses to engage proactively with US officials to navigate potential challenges. Stephen Vaughn, a lawyer and former acting US Trade Representative, spoke at a seminar, titled "Trade Regulations Under Trump's Second Term: Risk Management and Strategies for Korean Com

Business leaders are calling on lawmakers to expedite the approval of bipartisan, noncontentious bills on semiconductors and artificial intelligence, amid rising concerns that political uncertainty following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment could delay enactment of critical legislation, jeopardizing industry competitiveness. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Sunday stressed the importance of passing legislation such as the Semiconductor Special Act, the AI Basic Act and the Expansion

Amid intensifying competition to secure top talent in the critical semiconductor market, US-based Micron Technology is reaching out to Korean universities, offering students on-the-spot hiring opportunities and attractive benefits packages. In response, Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are also ramping up their efforts, forging partnerships with overseas universities and having their CEOs deliver speeches to appeal to young talent. Micron, the world’s third-largest DRAM m

From the shocking declaration of martial law to Saturday's impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, foreign companies doing business in Korea have been cautiously monitoring the unfolding political crisis over the past two weeks. Their primary concern, however, is not the domestic turmoil itself, but Korea's tricky positioning amid the ongoing US-China trade war, which is expected to intensify under Donald Trump’s second presidency. “We have not really discussed the impact o

South Korean design software developer Zyx Technology announced Friday that it will donate ZyxCAD licenses worth 1 billion won ($700,000) to Hanbat National University through a memorandum of understanding. The donation will allow more than 500 students and faculty members to use the firm's computer-aided design software for free over the next three years, the company said. ZYX Technology added that the partnership aims to foster innovation in design education, strengthen collaboration on a

Samsung Electronics plans to launch its extended reality headset next year, developed in collaboration with US tech giants Google and Qualcomm Technologies. The launch is expected to intensify competition with Apple's Vision Pro and Meta's Quest. At the "XR Unlocked" developer event on Thursday at Google's New York campus, Google introduced Android XR, a new operating system designed for extended reality devices. Samsung also unveiled its first device powered by Androi

Samsung Electronics is set to participate in the first-ever project to deploy an Open Radio Access Network in Latin America by teaming up with US-based telecom giant Liberty Latin America. The Korean tech giant’s network division will supply its virtualized radio access network solutions for the commercial Open RAN network in Puerto Rico, according to industry sources on Friday. Samsung has partnered with Liberty Puerto Rico, the US firm's local subsidiary with 870,000 subscribers, to

Samsung Electronics will hold executive-level meetings next week to discuss business plans for next year, industry sources said Thursday. The global strategy meeting for the company's electronics products business will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the semiconductor division's meeting on Thursday, according to the sources. At the biannual event, Samsung Electronics' executives share current issues by sector and region and discuss next year's business goals

By Yoo Sang-im Minister of Science and ICT Historically, scientific and technological innovations have never been confined to specific countries or regions but have been achieved through global cooperation across diverse nations and areas. In particular, global science and technology hubs, where knowledge, information and human capital converge, have provided a fertile ground for groundbreaking research and innovation. Throughout history, notable hubs for science and technology include Ancient

LG Electronics on Tuesday unveiled its revamped wireless audio brand LG Xboom, in collaboration with US rapper and producer will.i.am as “experiential architect.” The brand’s wireless speakers come with a new sound identity and user-centric designs, including an AI-powered radio app for personalized content. Its Xboom Buds earphones, formerly LG Tone Free, have also been upgraded for their official debut at the upcoming CES tech show in Las Vegas in January. (LG Electronics)

On the day of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration, the number of South Koreans installing Telegram surged dramatically, according to data released Tuesday. Telegram reached 47.09 percent of all messenger app downloads here on Dec. 3 — totaling 40,576 — nearly four times higher than the 9,016 recorded a day before, data from mobile big data platform IGAWorks showed. Yoon declared emergency martial law on the night of Dec. 3, only to reverse it the next

Chinese chipmakers are posing challenges for South Korean memory chip giants, flooding the global market with legacy chips at half the market price amid slowing demand. With the price of the older DRAM chips plunging more than 30 percent, market analysts lowered the earnings prospects for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the world's top two memory chip makers. According to DRAMeXchange on Monday, the spot price of 8 gigabyte DDR4 chips for computers fell to $1.35 in November, marking a 35.