[Editorial] Security worries over AI

Korean government, firms block access to DeepSeek amid lack of effective regulations The Jan. 20 release of DeepSeek, an innovative Chinese AI chatbot, upended global markets, prompting tech companies to scrutinize how an obscure Chinese startup seemingly developed such a competitive artificial intelligence model so suddenly. But the initial surprise seems to be shifting toward caution, doubt and, in some cases, outright phobia against the new Chinese AI technology on the assumption that it pote

Feb. 12, 2025

[Editorial] Seize the day

Parties should strike deal first on pension contribution, income replacement rates The ruling and opposition parties are waging a war of nerves over reforming South Korea's national pension system after sharing the view to deal first with contribution and income replacement rates. Rep. Kwon Young-se, interim leader of the ruling People Power Party, proposed last week to determine these rates as soon as possible. Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chair of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, had inst

Feb. 11, 2025

[Editorial] Korea’s elusive oil dream

Yoon’s much-ballyhooed oil, gas project falters as it lacks economic feasibility In past decades, South Korea launched deep-sea exploration projects to discover oil and gas reserves, only to get poor results. Last Thursday, the government put out a similarly disappointing result: The first exploratory drilling under the “Blue Whale” project showed that one of the prospective oil and gas sites in the East Sea lacks economic feasibility. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that wh

Feb. 10, 2025

[Editorial] Trump’s disruptive tactics

South Korea, with impeached leader, must prepare for Trump’s strategy of chaos, fear US President Donald Trump has long been notorious for his bizarre, irrational and fact-distorting assertions. He is now trying to top such expectations since returning to the White House. Just look at what he said about Gaza on Tuesday. He proposed that the US take over the Gaza Strip, displace more than 2 million Palestinians and turn the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” in what is seen as a horr

Feb. 7, 2025

[Editorial] AI alliance

Collaboration with OpenAI, SoftBank could help grow Korea's tech ecosystem OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son both visited Seoul on Tuesday and had a three-way meeting with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. They reportedly discussed collaboration on AI investments and future strategies. Their meeting is noteworthy, considering recent movements in the global AI industry. The United States and China are vying for leadership in the industry. Companies of the US and

Feb. 6, 2025

[Editorial] Ruling on Samsung chief

Lee Jae-yong acquitted by appellate court; Samsung needs fresh growth momentum Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong was cleared Monday of all charges linked to the controversial merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015, paving the way for him to fully focus on the management of South Korea’s embattled tech giant. The Seoul High Court upheld the lower court’s verdict dismissing all charges against Lee, including stock manipulation, breach of trust, accounting fraud and other irregularities r

Feb. 5, 2025