Samsung Electronics on Tuesday announced that it foresees lower-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of this year. “Due to the worse-than-expected weakening of the display and memory markets, the company’s first-quarter performance is predicted to be poorer than market forecasts,” the tech giant said in a statement. An announcement like this -- issued before the release of preliminary earnings forecasts, slated for the first week of April -- is unprecedented and raises concerns that anot

South Korea is slated to invest around 16 trillion won ($14 billion) in research and development for 100 key technologies over the next five years in its push to become a global technology powerhouse. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced its seventh industrial technology innovation plan Tuesday. The plan sets forth industrial technology research and development policy goals and related investment plans over the next five years under the Industrial Technology Innovation Promotion

For retro and futuristic vehicle fans alike, BMW Korea will have them covered with 29 new models showcased at the upcoming Seoul Motor Show, to be held in Kintex from Friday, the automaker said Tuesday.In line with BMW Korea’s slogan for the tradeshow -- “Connect with the future of BMW” -- BMW Korea will unveil its BMW i Vision Dynamics and concept model M8 Gran Coupe, displaying the future mobility and design direction of the auto giant. Also at the event, it will unveil for the first time in A

Posco Chairman Choi Jeong-woo chose Southeast Asia for his first overseas trip since taking office last year. According to the Korean steelmaker, Choi left for Indonesia on Monday to visit Krakatau Posco, a joint venture between Posco and Indonesia’s state-owned steelmaker Krakatau Steel. During his four-day trip, he is also slated to visit the firm’s production plants in Vietnam and its gas fields in Myanmar. “Operation sites are the key to a company’s competitiveness,” Choi said during his vis

Despite a slowing economy and growing uncertainties for market growth, South Korean SUV maker SsangYong has put its business back on track in the last four years, the company said Tuesday, crediting its CEO’s leadership for its revival.SsangYong Motor CEO and President Choi Johng-sik joined the carmaker in 2010 as domestic sales head and was appointed to the top post in 2015. The CEO with 43 years of experience in the local auto market has realigned SsangYong’s SUV lineup entirely, set a sales r

Chairman Koo Kwang-mo of LG Corp., the holding company of LG Group, on Tuesday vowed to pursue sustainable and transparent management to increase public trust in the nation’s fourth-largest conglomerate, while taking pre-emptive measures to take the lead in the fast-changing market.In a statement read by Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo during the annual shareholders meeting, the chairman said the conglomerate was facing pressure from the changing times, with technological convergence fast reshaping

The Libyan government signed on with South Korea’ Daewoo Engineering & Construction to build a power plant that will alleviate electricity woes in the country, Daewoo E&C said Tuesday.The company signed a memorandum of understanding to build Western Mountain Power Plant with the General Electricity Company of Libya on March 20. The Western Mountain Power Plant is a 900MW-capacity generator located in Al Hawamind, some 200 kilometers southwest from Libya’s capital city of Tripoli.  Daewoo E&C CEO

Celltrion CEO Seo Jeong-jin said at a shareholders meeting Tuesday that his company could reach 30 trillion won ($26.5 billion) in sales as soon as 2027. For 2020, he suggested a figure of 5 trillion won.Celltrion has yet to cross the threshold of 1 trillion won, although the company set its own best mark in 2018 with 982.1 billion won in sales profit, an increase of 33 billion won from the year before. Seo, while attending a business trip in Japan, connected via phone to speak to shareholders a

Customers using KT mobile network services in the Gangnam area of Seoul experienced disruption, including the use of credit cards, on Tuesday.KT said the Internet service was interrupted in parts of southern Seoul, with areas including the Sinsa, Yangjae, Suseo and Seocho areas being affected.The company said the latest disruption was caused by efforts to upgrade its fixed-line Internet modem. (KT)KT further said it is working to fix the problem as quickly as possible, with the issue likely to b

Telecom firm submits new 5G pricing plan for government approval ahead of launch

SK hynix, the world‘s second-biggest memory provider, announced Monday it has successfully demonstrated its proprietary solution with next-generation standards for enterprise solid state drive (SSD), a device that stores data in semiconductor memory.In a presentation at a summit in San Jose, California, the firm said the solution would speed up data processing by 30 percent for massive data centers that support artificial intelligence programs. The Korean chipmaker successfully showcased its own

Campaign by President Moon Jae-in drives momentum for companies to expand into the non-memory sector

Retail giant raises overseas sales target to W1tr by 2020, eyes more M&As for expansion

The frameworks for Haeundae LCT The Sharp, a major urban development project involving two 85-story residential towers, and a 101-story tower overlooking Busan’s Haeundae Beach, have been completed, Posco Engineering & Construction said Monday. This marked the end to a tortuous 1,272 days since the buildings’ groundbreaking in October 2013. Construction for LCT sailed through foul winds between 2015 and 2017 due to accusations of illicit deals involving government-business collusion during impea

The South Korean government held a general meeting Monday to prepare for the 2019 International Renewable Energy Conference that will take place in October in Seoul. 123rfThe Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it discussed progress and preparation for the biennial conference with a preparation committee formed in December 2017. The meeting was attended by 37 organizations, including regional governments, companies and public organizations. IREC is the world’s largest renewable energy ev