Korean battery makers keep close tabs on US Inflation Reduction Act

South Korean lithium-ion battery cell makers are expected to be beneficiaries once the Inflation Reduction Act comes into force in the United States, as the bill is likely to induce US electric vehicle makers to cut their reliance on Chinese battery components. But at the same time, Korean battery makers are now pressured to preemptively diversify their import sources of key materials out of China, as the new US bill is apparently aimed at countering China’s influence on the EV supply cha

Aug. 9, 2022

Korea to draft frequency plan to support EVs, UAM

The South Korean government will draw up a frequency spectrum plan by the end of this year in efforts to support the growth of new industries such as electric vehicles, robots and urban air mobility, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday. “We hope that the government’s preemptive supply of frequency and policy improvements will serve as a foundation for Korea to lead the global market in various new industries, including wireless charging of EVs in times of digital transform

Aug. 9, 2022

[Herald Interview] Due diligence on partners crucial for Korean biotech out-license deals

Korean biotechnology firms hoping to ink successful deals with foreign pharmaceutical companies must fully comprehend their potential partners’ A to Z’s, a legal expert in out-license deals said. “(Global big pharmas) want something that’s going to be successful and hopefully innovative, and both help patients and provide care, but also be valuable and create profit for the company,” Joshua Hofheimer, a partner and co-head of Global Life Sciences industry group at

Aug. 9, 2022

Seoul weighs ‘Chip 4’ alliance as ties with China hang in balance

South Korea is poised to join a working-level meeting of government officials involving major chipmaking nations along with the United States, Taiwan and Japan, amid mounting concerns over China’s retaliation. Seoul has had to tread carefully around Beijing, as memory chip giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix fear that its chipmaking base in China might be affected by Seoul‘s decision to join the so-called “Chip 4” alliance. President Yook Suk-yeol told repo

Aug. 8, 2022

Coupang launches loan service

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is starting a service offering loans to small businesses on its online platform while enabling its customers to pay for purchases in installments, a filing with the Financial Supervisory Service showed Monday. Coupang Financial, a subsidiary created in January of this year, will lead the new business the top financial watchdog approved Friday. Some analysts consider the expansion part of Coupang’s efforts to offset losses, which have grown over t

Aug. 8, 2022

[Market Eye] SK hynix’s W122tr chip cluster project hits snag over water dispute

SK hynix’s 121.7 trillion won ($93.8 billion) plan to set up a semiconductor manufacturing cluster is facing an unexpected hurdle as the South Korean chipmaking giant is being denied a request for water usage from a city adjacent to the cluster’s location in Greater Seoul. The city of Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, is demanding greater compensation in exchange for letting SK hynix build underground pipes needed to transport massive amounts of water crucial for producing next-generation

Aug. 7, 2022

KT, Turk Telekom sign deal on K-content, 5G

South Korean telecommunications firm KT and its Turkish counterpart Turk Telekom have signed a strategic partnership to foster collaboration in the field of media content to private fifth-generation network setup and joint investment in startups, KT announced Sunday. This is a follow-up to the nonbinding memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the two companies at the Mobile World Congress in March. According to KT, the new deal will give users of Turk Telekom‘s internet pro

Aug. 7, 2022

S. Korea’s first lunar orbiter successfully reaches ballistic lunar transfer trajectory

South Korea’s first lunar orbiter Danuri launched into space on Friday morning, and successfully reached the ballistic lunar transfer trajectory, a path that will take it toward the moon, the Ministry of Science and ICT said. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute confirmed from its ground control station that Danuri successfully separated from the projectile and reached the target ballistic lunar transfer orbit, the ministry said. Danuri separated from the SpaceX Falcon rocket at aroun

Aug. 5, 2022

Samsung to supply 5G equipment to India’s Airtel

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has inked a deal to supply 5G network equipment to India’s telecom giant Bharti Airtel, its first 5G equipment deal made in the world’s second-largest telecom market. According to the South Korean tech giant, Airtel, India’s No. 2 telecom carrier and the No. 4 globally with 490 million subscribers, on Wednesday selected Samsung as one of its equipment partners ahead of its planned launch of 5G network services this month. Under the deal,

Aug. 4, 2022

[Newsmaker] Korea to shoot for the moon Friday

South Korea’s first lunar mission Danuri is all set to be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon rocket on Friday morning, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday. According to the ministry, the SpaceX Falcon rocket has been erected at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as of 11:15 a.m., Korea time. Danuri, formally known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, will blast off at 8:08 a.m. on Friday, Korea time, or 7:08 p.m. on Thursday, local Eastern Standard time.

Aug. 4, 2022

Samsung rolls out futuristic memory, storage tech tailored to big data

Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it unveiled a set of next-generation memory and storage technologies to better address various client demands for handling big data. Choi Jin-hyeok, executive vice president of memory solution and product development at Samsung Electronics, told an audience at the Flash Memory Summit 2022 that the array of technologies, including “perabyte storage,” “memory-semantic solid state drive” and “telemetry” is cru

Aug. 3, 2022

SK hynix unveils 238-layer 4D NAND flash memory

SK hynix said Tuesday that it had unveiled plans to mass-produce the industry‘s first 238-layer four-dimensional NAND flash memory in the first half of 2023. At the Flash Memory Summit of 2022 held in Santa Clara, California, Choi Jung-dal, head of NAND development at SK hynix, said the newest NAND flash, which boasts the highest layer count and highest triple-level cell density in the industry, has been sampled by clients after the development was complete in July. The technological br

Aug. 3, 2022

Researchers develop mass production technology for biodegradable microrobots

Scientists have developed a new technology to allow mass production of biodegradable microrobots that are likely to contribute to improving the efficacy of regenerative medicine such as stem cell therapy, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology said Tuesday. A joint research team composed of scientists at DGIST, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital of The Catholic University of Korea and Swiss public university ETH Zurich came up with a method to produce over 100 biodegradable microrobo

Aug. 2, 2022

Lawmakers float bill to triple tax benefits for chipmakers

South Korean lawmakers are poised to propose a new bill aimed at providing domestic chipmakers with more extensive tax benefits in return for facility investment, a step toward its own version of the US-passed CHIPS Act to be effective Thursday. The new bill, unveiled Tuesday by a group of lawmakers led by independent lawmaker Rep. Yang Hyang-ja, is designed to triple the tax incentives for chipmakers, an apparent move to encourage more investment from semiconductor players. At least 20 perce

Aug. 2, 2022

SK hynix completes Key Foundry acquisition

South Korean chipmaker SK hynix said Tuesday it has completed the acquisition of domestic contract-based chip manufacturer Key Foundry The announcement came nine months after SK hynix signed a 575.8 billion won ($440.3 million) deal in October to acquire the entire stake of the 200-millimeter wafer foundry company based in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, from local private equity firms Alchemist Capital Partners and Gravity Private Equity. SK hynix added that it has won the antitru

Aug. 2, 2022

LG Chem looks to begin final stage of clinical trials for gout drug with FDA

LG Chem has applied for phase 3 clinical trials of its gout treatment candidate Tigulixostat with the US Food and Drug Administration, the South Korean company said Monday. If the application gets the go-ahead sign from the FDA, it will mark the first time for LG Chem to carry out phase 3 clinical trials of its self-developed new drug candidate globally including in the US, according to the company. Gout is a painful form of arthritis that is characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, sw

Aug. 1, 2022

SK Bioscience eyes Europe as market for COVID-19 vaccine

SK Bioscience has submitted the application for conditional approval of the COVID-19 vaccine SKY Covione with the European Medicines Agency in efforts to expand its presence in the global market, the South Korean vaccine developer said Monday. Beginning with the European region, SK Bioscience said it will look to showcase the South Korean COVID-19 vaccine on the global stage as the size of the coronavirus vaccine market grows rapidly. South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Ministry gav

Aug. 1, 2022

[Market Eye] Will Samsung make cars again?

“Will Samsung make cars again?” is a decades-old question that has dogged the tech giant since it sold off its automotive business to France’s Renault Group during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Samsung has seen success in almost every sector it set sights on, but making and selling its own brand cars has remained a rare failure for the nation’s largest conglomerate. Despite repeated denials by the top brass, speculation has resurfaced about Samsun

July 31, 2022

Krafton’s popular battle-royale game banned in India

South Korean gaming giant Krafton’s popular battle-royale format game Battleground Mobile India, the Indian version of its global smash hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, has been slapped with a download ban in India, its Seoul headquarters confirmed Friday. Both Google and Apple removed the gaming app from their respective app stores on Thursday, citing the Indian government’s ban order. “We are still checking on the situation with the local authorities,” a Kr

July 29, 2022

LG, SoundHound team up for in-car voice assistant system

LG Electronics said Thursday it has teamed up with US audio experts SoundHound to develop an artificial intelligence-based voice system for vehicles with demand growing for both driving convenience and safety. Best known for its music recognition service, Santa Clara, California-based SoundHound supplies voice assistant systems to a slew of automotive, mobile devices, smart home and robotics companies. As part of a memorandum, SoundHound’s voice recognition technology will be applied t

July 28, 2022