Samsung SDI clinches W1tr energy storage deal with top US electric utility

Samsung SDI is set to supply energy storage solution batteries worth 1 trillion won ($724 million) to NextEra Energy, the largest electric utility in the United States. Industry sources report that Samsung SDI is finalizing a contract to provide batteries with a total capacity of 6.3 gigawatt-hours to NextEra Energy. This supply is equivalent to 11.5 percent of North America's total energy storage solution capacity of 55 GWh last year. The key product in this deal is the Samsung Battery Box

July 5, 2024

SK, Canada’s EDC forge partnership on green energy

SK Group said Thursday that it has teamed up with Export Development Canada, the country’s exports credit agency, to boost cooperation in high-tech areas such as renewable energy and batteries. SK Inc., the holding unit of the group, signed a memorandum of understanding with EDC to forge a long-term partnership with its CEO Jang Yong-ho and EDC CEO Mairead Lavery in attendance. "This MOU is significant in that SK and Canada's public financial institution cooperate under a common

July 4, 2024

Stalled talks for Line stake sale: Boon or bane for Naver?

Negotiations over Naver’s sale of a stake in its joint venture with Japan’s SoftBank are expected to be prolonged, with no immediate breakthrough in sight. Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon on Tuesday said the Korean portal giant had no immediate intention to sell its stake in LY Corp., the operator of Japan’s popular messenger Line. Naver and SoftBank each own 50 percent of A Holdings, which controls almost 65 percent of shares in LY Corp. Asked about the possible change in its ownershi

July 4, 2024

Daewoo E&C chairman meets Vienamese PM

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Chairman Jung Won-ju met with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Seoul to discuss future cooperation in construction projects in Vietnam, the company said Thursday. During the meeting held at Lotte Hotel in central Seoul on Wednesday, Jung sought the Vietnamese government’s support in the company’s ongoing construction projects in Vietnam. “Daewoo E&C is proud of being responsible for the Starlake City project in Hanoi,&r

July 4, 2024

SK Square names new CEO to reshape investment portfolio

SK Square, the investment arm of SK Group, is set to reshape its business portfolio to concentrate on the chip industry and divest "non-core" investments, under a new leader. On Wednesday, the company nominated Han Myung-jin, the head of the company's investment support center and former chief strategy officer of SK Telecom, as its new chief executive officer, to take over from Park Sung-ha who was dismissed a week ago. "The appointments committee in the board of directors no

July 4, 2024

Mirae Asset chief named AIB executive of year in first for Asian financier

Mirae Asset Financial Group Chairman Park Hyeon-joo on Wednesday received the International Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business, a top honor in the industry, recognized for his pivotal role in lifting the firm as a global financial service provider. Park is the first Asian financier and the second Korean entrepreneur to receive the prestigious award from the AIB, an association of international business scholars and professionals. The first Korean awardee was S

July 4, 2024

Lotte Biologics breaks ground for first plant in Songdo

South Korean contract development and manufacturing organization Lotte Biologics CEO Richard Lee said Wednesday that the company aims to hit 1.5 trillion won ($1.07 billion) in sales by 2030 to become one of the world's top 10 CDMOs. The announcement came during a groundbreaking ceremony for the company's first biomanufacturing plant in Songdo, which will elevate its total production capacity to some 360,000 liters. The construction will be completed in the first quarter of 2026, and t

July 3, 2024

[Herald Interview] INSEAD professor explores power of K-brands’ ‘identity marketing’

The recent success of Korean brands can be attributed to their knack for selling "pieces of identities" and empowering consumers with curated experiences, according to a marketing professor at French business school INSEAD. "Consumers today expect to purchase more than just products from a brand; they seek cultural and social elements. The swift execution of these elements has given rise to many successful K-brands," said David Dubois, an associate professor specializing in d

July 3, 2024

LG acquires Dutch smarthome specialist to enhance connectivity

LG Electronics is acquiring Athom, a smart home platform based in the Netherlands, as part of its effort to strengthen connectivity for its open smart home ecosystem, the company announced Wednesday. The Korean tech giant said it has acquired an 80 percent stake in the Dutch firm and plans to purchase the remaining 20 percent within the next three years, with the condition included in the agreement. “The acquisition of Athom is a cornerstone for our AI home business,” said Jung Ki-hy

July 3, 2024

AmCham launches mentoring program for young professionals

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea said Wednesday that it has kicked off the Young Professionals Program to empower emerging leaders and strengthen Korea-US ties. Hosted and supported by AmCham, YPP provides young professionals in their 20s and 30s with networking opportunities with industry leaders, government dignitaries and seasoned experts. This also sets the ground for delicate discussions on business initiatives and policies pertinent to AmCham member firms in Korea. AmCham Chairman

July 3, 2024

Krafton to attend Gamescom 2024 next month

South Korean game publisher Krafton said Wednesday that it is attending the upcoming Gamescom, Europe’s largest gaming trade show, which kicks off on Aug. 21 and runs through Aug. 25 in Cologne, Germany. The company launched an official Gamescom landing page on its official website on the day and posted a teaser trailer on YouTube to promote its participation in the event. The teaser showcases the company's booth concept, themed on the "Scale-up the Creative" strategy, which

July 3, 2024

Samsung to boost display investments in Vietnam

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday renewed his commitment to boosting investment in Vietnam, where the company remains the biggest foreign investor, during a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Seoul on Tuesday. In the private meeting, the Samsung chief pledged massive investment to set up the tech giant’s biggest display module production base in the Southeast Asian country over the next three years. "Vietnam's success is Samsung's su

July 2, 2024

[Herald Interview] Vietnam's MB Bank bets big on Seoul-Hanoi ties

Vietnamese state lender MB Bank, also known as Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank, will launch a mobile app for South Korean nationals living in the country in August, seeing potential in the strengthening ties between the two countries. “Vietnamese banks are yet to offer specialized service for Koreans living in the country, making them rely on the branches of Korean banks,” MB Bank Chairman Luu Trung Thai said during an interview in Seoul on Tuesday. Luu Trung Thai was in Korea w

July 2, 2024

[Business Diplomacy] Time matters more than money in engineering lobbying prowess

Korean companies should focus on boosting their "still-nascent" lobbying power by spending the time to understand policymakers' needs and by building a strong network regardless of the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election in November, according to legal and trade advisers from Lee & Ko, a prominent law firm in Korea. Companies around the globe are paying keen attention to how US policy directions will diverge depending on who becomes the next US president: the incu

July 2, 2024

Cyber attacks using generative AI on rise: SK Shieldus

Cyberattacks using generative artificial intelligence, or targeting the weak points of the new technology are on the rise, SK Shieldus, a leading security service company in Korea said on Tuesday. In a media seminar, SK Shieldus and EQST, the company's white-hat hackers group, presented its findings on the rising hacking trends using AI and underscored the importance of raising awareness and taking preventive measures to reduce damage. “Large Language Models are being used actively to

July 2, 2024

Unionized Samsung workers to stage 3-day walkout

Unionized workers of Samsung Electronics have said they will stage a three-day walkout beginning July 8, as their negotiations with management over wages and working conditions have so far failed. The National Samsung Electronics Union, the largest among multiple Samsung Electronics unions with some 28,400 workers, or 22 percent of the total workforce, announced the decision on Monday evening livestreaming on YouTube. “Any further peaceful strike is meaningless,” said Son Woo-mok, pr

July 2, 2024

KITA opens Dallas center to boost business ties with US

The Korea International Trade Association announced Tuesday the opening of its new US office in Dallas, Texas. The opening event held on Monday was attended by 50 dignitaries and representatives from both governments and related businesses, including KITA Chairman Yoon Jin-sik, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Houston Jung Young-ho. The Dallas center, which aims to support trading issues of Korean firms from their market entry to building local

July 2, 2024

Celltrion's Stelara biosimilar recommended for EU approval

Celltrion said Monday that CT-P43, its ustekinumab biosimilar referencing Stelara, received an approval recommendation from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. Stelara is Janssen's top-selling drug for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The global market for ustekinumab last year was estimated at around $20 billion, Celltrion added. “CHMP’s recommendation plays a decisive role in the EMA&

July 1, 2024

Antitrust watchdog to sanction AliExpress for violating e-commerce laws

The Fair Trade Commission has launched formal proceedings to sanction Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress for alleged violations of e-commerce laws. According to industry sources on Monday, the FTC recently issued a review report outlining sanctions against AliExpress for failing to report its basic business information to the government. Under the Act on the Consumer Protection in E-Commerce, operators of e-commerce platforms must report their business name, email address, internet domain name

July 1, 2024

Global memory chip market picks up amid AI boom

The global memory chip market is picking up on the back of the artificial intelligence boom, with the chip price expected to rise in the second half of this year, according to industry sources on Monday. In the wake of a recovery in demand for server and AI chips, such as High Bandwidth Memory chips, the average sales price of DRAM chips is forecast to increase by 8 to 13 percent in the July-September period when compared to the previous quarter, TrendForce, a Taiwan-based chip market tracker sa

July 1, 2024