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Work hour reform for chipmakers: R&D flexibility or worker exploitation?
Semiconductor act sparks clash over innovation, employee protections The government push to pass a highly anticipated law for the semiconductor industry, which includes a clause that would ease the national limit on work hours in the critical sector, remains in limbo, as the majority opposition party and labor unions strongly oppose the legislation, calling it “exploitative.” Amid the tense standoff between the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party over the clause ai
Feb. 11, 2025 -
LG’s Exaone AI model matches DeepSeek in cost efficiency: Epoch AI
LG AI Research’s hyperscale artificial intelligence multimodal model has been recognized as notable AI by a leading US research institution, especially receiving high marks for cost efficiency, similar to China’s DeepSeek. According to a recent report released by Epoch AI, LG’s Exaone 3.5 32B model, unveiled in December, has been included in its "notable AI category." Epoch AI, composed of scientists and AI experts, evaluates and selects AI models based on performance, usage frequency and other
Feb. 10, 2025 -
Samsung launches Galaxy S25 worldwide
Samsung Electronics on Friday released its latest flagship model Galaxy S25 series in major markets, starting with South Korea, the US, the UK, India and Thailand. The firm said the devices would eventually be sold in more than 120 countries. In tandem with the launch, Google’s AI model Gemini, which is built into the S25 series, now supports 46 languages. The tech giant unveiled the latest S25 series at its Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California, last month. Even before the launch, the S
Feb. 7, 2025 -
Samsung to donate $1 million in electronics for LA wildfire relief
Samsung Electronic on Friday said it pledged to donate $1 million worth of electronic products to support relief efforts in Los Angeles, where destructive wildfires throughout January left thousands of residents displaced and homes destroyed. Samsung’s US affiliates, Samsung Electronics America and Samsung Semiconductor, have partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, Team Rubicon and the Los Angeles Unified School District Education Foundation to provide both immediate relief a
Feb. 7, 2025 -
East Sea oil, gas reserve 'lacks economic feasibility'
The South Korean government has determined that one of the potential oil and gas prospects under exploration in the East Sea lacks economic feasibility, the Industry Ministry said Thursday, reporting the preliminary results of the first drilling operation, which concluded earlier this week. "When assessing economic feasibility, we consider multiple factors, including gas indications, reservoir characteristics, cap rock and gas saturation levels," a senior ministry official said in a briefing. "T
Feb. 6, 2025 -
LG CNS posts record profit in 2024
Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS said Thursday it achieved record-high yearly sales of 5.9 trillion won ($4.07 billion) in 2024, backed by robust sales in cloud and artificial intelligence business. Operating profit for the year stood at 512.9 billion won, growing 10.5 percent on-year, while annual sales increased 6.2 percent on-year. For the October-December period, LG CNS also posted best quarterly sales of 2.02 trillion won, up 6.2 percent on-year. The operating profit also increased 1.1 p
Feb. 6, 2025 -
Korea's ministries, businesses block DeepSeek over security concerns
Weekly users of DeepSeek surpass 1.2 million in Korea, compared to 4.93 million for ChatGPT Government agencies and major companies in South Korea are rushing to block access to Chinese artificial intelligence service DeepSeek, amid concerns about user data collection. The move comes after the Ministry of the Interior and Safety issued a warning on Tuesday, advising central government agencies and 17 provincial governments to be cautious when using AI-based generative services like DeepSeek. Fol
Feb. 6, 2025 -
LG CNS becomes Korea’s first SAP Asia-Pacific strategic services partner
Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS said Thursday that it has become the first Korean company to join the SAP Asia-Pacific Japan Regional Strategic Services Partner initiative. This initiative run by US software company SAP identifies companies in the Asia-Pacific region that demonstrate high levels of enterprise resource planning expertise. LG CNS is now the fourth SAP partner in the region, following Japan’s Fujitsu, ABeam Consulting and Vietnam’s FPT Software. Under the agreement, LG CNS plan
Feb. 6, 2025 -
LG teams up with SNU to accelerate AI-driven drug discovery
LG AI Research, the artificial intelligence arm of LG Group, is accelerating efforts in new drug discovery by partnering with a Seoul National University professor to develop AI for predicting protein structure. LG said Thursday it signed a joint research agreement with Baek Min-kyung, professor of biological science at Seoul National University, at LG Science Park in Magok, western Seoul, a day earlier. Predicting protein structures, which are critical to human biological processes, is essentia
Feb. 6, 2025 -
Samsung unveils new white paper on 6G tech
Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled a white paper outlining the tech giant's long-term strategy to enhance its 6G communication technology. In the white paper, titled “AI-Native & Sustainable Communication,” Samsung stated that it will leverage the latest AI technology in 6G development and projected that 6G standards will be finalized by 2030 following candidate technology development, evaluation and consensus-building processes. “We are intensifying our 6G research efforts, focusing on AI
Feb. 6, 2025 -
Samsung chief’s decadelong legal saga concludes
Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong walked free from years of legal battles on Monday, after an appellate court cleared him of stock-rigging and accounting fraud charges related to the 2015 merger of Samsung affiliates. With his legal troubles behind him, Lee is expected to focus on spearheading the tech giant through its various business challenges. Conflict origins Lee’s legal troubles trace back to the contentious merger of two Samsung affiliates: Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. The deal
Feb. 6, 2025 -
Beyond memory: Korea’s next big semiconductor challenge
Global collaboration, not nationalism, key to chip innovation, says imec CEO South Korea has achieved remarkable growth over the past decades to become a global leader in the semiconductor industry, with its key players dominating the memory chip market. However, as memory and logic chips become increasingly integrated, the country must enhance its capabilities in both sectors to maintain its competitive edge and tackle future challenges, said Luc Van den hove, CEO of imec, the world's largest i
Feb. 5, 2025 -
Naver founder set to return as board chair after 7 years
Naver founder Lee Hae-jin will likely return as chair of the board at South Korea's internet giant, reclaiming a leadership role seven years after stepping down to focus on overseas expansion. According to industry sources on Wednesday, Naver’s board of directors plans to approve a proposal Friday to reinstate Lee as an internal director ahead of the shareholder meeting in March. Once approved by shareholders, he is expected to take on the role of board chair. A Naver official declined to confir
Feb. 5, 2025 -
AI mega deal? Samsung, OpenAI, SoftBank chiefs discuss collaboration in Seoul
2-hour, high-profile meeting covers extensive collaborations on AI investments, future strategies Three tech moguls -- Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son -- convened in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss extensive collaboration on AI investments and future strategies. Their high-profile meeting, held at Samsung's office building in southern Seoul, was arranged upon Altman's visit to Seoul to attend OpenAI's technology forum with local d
Feb. 4, 2025 -
KakaoTalk to get big AI boost as Kakao, OpenAI join forces
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visits Seoul to discuss new partnerships with Korean tech giants Korean tech giant Kakao and ChatGPT creator OpenAI announced a strategic partnership on Tuesday in Seoul, unveiling plans to integrate OpenAI’s ever-evolving artificial intelligence technology into KakaoTalk and other key services. “Kakao is committed to securing the best AI technology and turning all imaginable AI-era services into reality. We’re delighted to partner with OpenAI in this strategic collaboratio
Feb. 4, 2025