SK Innovation said Wednesday it is in talks to purchase more cathodes, one of the four key components of lithium-ion batteries, as an apparent demonstration of confidence in future orders. The prospective supply deal with South Korean cathode materials manufacturer L&F came just days before the April 11 deadline for President Joe Biden’s veto of a US trade court’s decision to sanction SKI from doing business in the US for 10 years. By law, the US president can override the US

In an earnings surprise, Samsung Electronics is believed to have recorded an operating profit of 9.3 trillion won ($8.3 billion) in the first three months of 2021, according to early estimates released Wednesday. According to the company’s Q1 earnings guidance, its revenue is projected to reach 65 trillion won. Compared to the same quarter last year, revenue and operating profit would represent increases of 17.48 percent and 44.19 percent, respectively. The operating profit growth fa

Preparing to bid adieu to its 26-year-old mobile device business, LG Electronics is mulling over what to do with its overseas phone plants, with outright closure being considered as one possible option, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. Closure could mean hundreds of employees losing their jobs within a few months. LG’s head office in Seoul, when announcing the handset business exit on Monday, said it planned to “convert” the overseas facilities and use them for o

South Korean telecom companies want to move beyond traditional businesses

South Korea's wearable device market grew more than 50 percent last year, industry data showed Tuesday, due to rising demand for IT products amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend.  Domestic shipments of wearable products, including smartwatches, wireless earphones and electronic wristbands, totaled 12.76 million units in 2020, up 50.7 percent from a year ago, according to the data from market researcher IDC Korea. Wireless earphones accounted for 74 percent of the market with 9.39

LG Innotek Co., a major electronics parts maker in South Korea, said Tuesday it has established an artificial intelligence (AI) powered patent search and analysis system to beef up its research and development (R&D) efforts. With its deep learning technology, the affiliate of LG Electronics Co. said the system leverages sentence recognition algorithms which it developed with LG AI Research, an AI technology research hub for LG Group. Its solution can execute real-time analysis of context a

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it plans to develop cross-platform artificial intelligence (AI)-powered services with KT Corp., South Korea's major telecom operator, to expand use of its human-like algorithm. LG and KT plan to commercialize services that support AI platforms from both companies after developing a joint interface. The two companies recently verified compatibility between LG's ThinQ and KT's GiGA Genie AI platforms. The South Korean tech giant tested its smart mirror to find

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of South Korea announced Monday that it has minimized the steps required for the import of new biologic agents, such as COVID-19 vaccines. According to the revised rules, the government will no longer require foreign drug developers wishing to export their products to Korea to present certificates from their respective country. This would speed up the approval process here for foreign-developed biologic agents that are urgently needed to counter public h

  After 26 years of ups and downs, LG Electronics is putting an end to its money-losing handset segment and shifting its focus to future mobile solutions for bigger industries, the company announced Monday. LG’s board of directors decided to officially terminate the handset business by July 31 after trying, and failing, to sell it off in the past two months. “LG has failed to respond well to the intensifying competition with the top two players in the mid-range smartphone ma

A massive agriculture complex will be developed in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province as part of a joint project between Korean and Chinese industry players, the Korea-China Private Economic Association announced Sunday. The agriculture complex, which would sit on a 250,000-square-meter parcel of land, has been designed as an eco-friendly town comprising smart farms, hydrogen fuel cell generators, logistics systems and housing with leisure facilities. The private companies from two countries would

South Korean game developer Krafton’s sales last year jumped 53 percent to around 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion), the company said in its annual report. The company behind the hit battle royal game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is expected to accelerate steps for an initial public offering, on the back of the strong performance. According to Krafton’s business report for 2020, the company’s revenue for the whole of last year amounted to 1.67 trillion won, up 53.6 per

The United States International Trade Commission on Friday dismissed a request made by LG Energy Solution to sanction SK Innovation’s lawsuit that accused LG of infringing on patents. The ITC dismissal came just one day after the US government agency ruled in favor of SK in another patent case filed by LG against SK. The latest denial involves SK’s complaint that accused LG of infringing on its patents in September 2019, a separate case from the two archrivals’ dispute abou

South Korea’s pharmaceutical and biopharma companies are ramping up efforts to get listed on the Nasdaq market, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Korean e-commerce giant Coupang with their US market debut. According to industry sources Thursday, CoImmune, a joint venture between SCM LifeScience and Genexine, is preparing for an initial public offering on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. CoImmune’s appointment of biotechnology and finance expert Dr. Edgardo Baracchini to the co

Kakao Mobility, Korea’s digital transportation service app operator, said Thursday the company will explore new business opportunities together with Google. Under their partnership, Kakao has attracted investment of $50 million from the US tech giant, which is to be paid completely by April 22, according to the company’s regulatory filing. With the investment, Kakao and Google will work together on advancement of artificial intelligence technologies based on the cloud, create s

South Korea's ICT ministry said Thursday it aims to encourage more competition in the local 5G market through the release of affordable mobile data plans from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The ICT ministry said 10 MVNOs in the country, including Sejong Telecom Inc., will release new data plans starting this month that provide up to 30 gigabytes of data for around 40,000 won ($35). The country's major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- do not currentl