Semiconductor arms race likely to chip away at financial incentives as new consortium is building to propose UK chip design juggernaut takeover

South Korea received some 33 percent less foreign direct “greenfield” investments as of 2020, compared with the amount before the start of the US-China trade war in March 2018, a report showed Sunday. Greenfield investment refers to a type of foreign direct investment in which a parent company sets up a new affiliate in a different country rather than buying one and builds its own operations from the ground up. “When three-year greenfield FDIs before and after the conflict a

Tussle between Korean regulator, Google continues over IT giant’s new in-app payment policy deemed as violating rules

Asia’s first Porsche exhibition, “Porsche Ikonen,” drew thousands of visitors in its first week in Seoul, Porsche Korea said Friday. Since the general opening to the public Saturday, the exhibition saw around 6,500 visitors as of Thursday, with an average of 2,000 visitors last weekend, according to the automaker. Tickets for the coming weekend have already sold out. Showcasing 18 units of legendary cars including the hypercar concept “919 Street,” Porsche’

South Korean carmaker Kia and last-mile delivery service firm Coupang announced Friday that they had signed an agreement Wednesday to develop all-electric vehicles for cargo delivery. The two companies plan to launch mid-sized and large electric cargo vans by 2025, with better storage, efficiency and safety than Coupang’s current 1-ton cargo truck. Kia said it would use its experience and technology in the automobile sector to offer diverse solutions and services requested by Coupang to

South Korean startup GameEye has signed contracts with five esports teams for them to use Deeplol Pro, the company’s artificial intelligence-based gaming data analysis program, the firm said Friday. The startup signed the deals on Thursday to five undisclosed League of Legends teams, each in Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Korea and the United States. GameEye said it would target more LoL teams in North America, South America, Europe and Asia with the AI-powered service. Deeplol Pro uses the

Netflix’s South Korean arm raked in 631.7 billion won ($513 million) in revenue through 2021, up 52 percent from a year prior, a filing showed Friday. The platform’s blockbuster performance in Korea reflects its increasing clout over the streaming service market here, largely thanks to Korean-language hits such as “Squid Game” and “Hellbound.” It also however highlights the “network usage fee” debate in Korean court and parliament. According to

Hyundai chief says its EV push will continue, along with robot development both for industrial, personal use

Koreans have mixed feelings over going back to the office as many tasted the pleasure of relaxed mornings, hoesik-free evenings. And companies know, too.

Seoul Administrative Court on Thursday ordered the Seoul city government to halt its plan of an eight-month business suspension on HDC Hyundai Development over its building demolition project that killed nine. The court order is in effect until the end of this month. HDC Hyundai Development filed a lawsuit on March 31 to nullify the Seoul city government’s suspension order issued just a day before. The order was imposed at the request of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transpor

South Korea‘s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a two-and-a-half-year jail term for both ex-health minister Moon Hyung-pyo and Hong Wan-sun, former head of the National Pension Service, over their role in the controversial $8 billion merger of Samsung affiliates in 2015. The final ruling came over five years after the two were indicted on charges of abuse of power and crimes of obstructing another from exercising one’s rights. Moon was accused of coercing the NPS, a blockholder of S

An embedded SIM service launched by local mobile carrier LG Uplus since last year for foreign visitors to South Korea saw a 44 percent increase in the number of customers this year, the company said Thursday. The service became available since May to offer convenience to short-term foreign visitors to South Korea. More foreign visitors have been purchasing the service this year, the company said. It compared monthly average number of customers enrolled between May and December last year and the

The Korea Enterprises Federation said that its chairman, Sohn Kyung-shik, met with the president of the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Wednesday, stressing the need for a similar nongovernmental think tank in Korea as well. Founded in 1973, the Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit conservative think tank with a mission to formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong nationa

South Korean shipyard HJ Shipbuilding & Construction Co. said Thursday it has succeeded in developing a dual-fueled liquefied natural gas (LNG) container carrier that meets international environmental requirements. HJ Shipbuilding said it has recently received approval from Lloyd's Register for its design on a 7,700 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container ship with a LNG-powered dual-fuel engine. The two companies have been joining hands in developing the new type of LNG-fueled container

Financial affiliates of South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group on Thursday launched an integrated financial service app that offers various financial plans spanning insurance to financial investment. The new Samsung app, Monimo, offers services from four Samsung financial affiliates, such as Samsung Life Insurance Co., Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, and Samsung Card Co. The app enables Samsung customers to use different financial services, including calling car insurance agents and filing