Hanwha offloads Eutelsat stake as Starlink rival seeks new investors

South Korea's Hanwha Systems said on Thursday it was selling its entire 5.4 percent stake in Eutelsat for 77.6 million euros ($88.5 million), as the Franco-British satellite operator seeks new investors. Eutelsat has garnered unprecedented attention this year from governments looking for home-grown alternatives to SpaceX's Starlink for satellite internet connectivity. The company is working on a new financing plan to fund the second generation of its low Earth orbit (LEO) OneWeb satellites and t

June 5, 2025

Lee orders swift preparation for relocation of oceans ministry to Busan

President Lee Jae-myung on Thursday instructed the government to swiftly prepare the relocation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to the southeastern city of Busan, his office said, one of his major campaign pledges. Lee issued the directive during his first Cabinet meeting since taking office on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a briefing. The ministry is currently located in the administrative city of Sejong, about 109 kilometers south of Seoul. On the campaign t

June 5, 2025

Lee appoints DP's think tank head to lead policy planning committee

President Lee Jae-myung has formed a policy planning committee to draw up the new government's policy roadmap, which will effectively serve as a presidential transition team, his office said Thursday. The president appointed Lee Han-joo, head of the Democratic Party's Institute for Democracy think tank, as the chair of the committee, tasked with outlining Lee's policy plans and priorities. "The committee is an organization that functions like a presidential transition team, responsible for tasks

June 5, 2025

Trump's chip subsidy renegotiation casts uncertainty over Samsung, SK hynix

The Trump administration is renegotiating subsidies pledged under the previous Biden administration’s CHIPS Act, sparking concerns that South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix might see cuts in funding for their US investments. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the Senate Appropriations Committee that some of the subsidy agreements reached during the Biden administration “just seemed overly generous, and we've been able to renegotiate them,” according to Reuters. “All th

June 5, 2025

Korea inks $18b nuclear export deal with Czech Republic

South Korea has clinched a landmark $18 billion contract with the Czech state utility to build new nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic, following a court decision to lift an injunction that had temporarily blocked the signing. This is Korea's second-ever nuclear export project, following the Barakah plant in the United Arab Emirates in 2009. Czech Prime Minister Petra Fiala announced the closing of the deal in a nationally televised press conference Wednesday, just hours after the Czech Supre

June 5, 2025

[Photo News] Naver, Netflix execs meet in LA, eye broader partnership

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon (left) met with Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters at Netflix's office in Los Angeles on Tuesday. During their meeting, the two discussed the progress of their ongoing partnership, which began in November when Naver integrated a Netflix subscription benefit into its paid membership program, and explored other partnership opportunities. (Naver)

June 5, 2025

SK hynix overtakes Samsung in global DRAM market for 1st time in Q1: report

SK hynix Co. has overtaken longtime domestic rival Samsung Electronics Co. in global dynamic random access memory (DRAM) market share for the first time, helped by the rapid growth of the high bandwidth memory (HBM) segment, industry data showed Thursday. According to global market research firm Omdia, SK hynix’s share of the global DRAM market rose from 36 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 36.9 percent in the first quarter of 2025. During the same period, Samsung’s share fell from 38.6 p

June 5, 2025

Economic revival top priority, business groups tell President Lee

South Korea’s major business lobby groups on Wednesday welcomed the election of President Lee Jae-myung, urging his administration to revitalize the economy and swiftly tackle national challenges amid an unprecedented level of global uncertainty. The 60-year-old lawyer-turned-lawmaker secured a decisive victory in Tuesday’s early election, held two years ahead of schedule following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Business groups issued statements congratulating the new preside

June 4, 2025

Starlink to bring satellite network service to S. Korea

US Space firm SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service is set to launch in South Korea following approval from government authorities last week. The rollout will mark the beginning of low Earth orbit, or LEO, satellite networks in the country, offering high-speed connectivity in remote and unreachable areas. Seoul's Ministry of Science and ICT has approved the California-based company’s cross-border supply agreement, along with similar deals involving Hanwha Systems and KT Sat, which are res

June 3, 2025

Subscriber exodus continues for SK Telecom after mass data leak

Korea's largest mobile operator SK Telecom, which revealed in April that it had been subject to a massive data breach, continued to lose subscribers in May as more chose to switch to other operators. According to Korea Telecommunications Operations Association data released Monday, 677,491 people ended their subscriptions with SKT in April and May. The company added 157,631 new members in the same period, meaning it suffered a net loss of over 500,000 subscribers over the two months. Most custom

June 2, 2025

Samsung Pay suffers 3-hour outage during Monday rush hour

Samsung Pay, the most widely used mobile payment system in Korea, experienced a widespread outage that lasted over three hours on Monday morning, leaving users unable to make payments during peak commuting hours. According to Samsung Electronics, the service disruption began around 7 a.m. and continued into the late morning, with users reporting intermittent failures when attempting to make payments using the app. However, transportation cards registered within Samsung Pay that utilize near-fiel

June 2, 2025

Korea’s US exports dip 8% on auto tariffs

South Korea's exports to the US fell 8.1 percent on-year in May amid the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs, which also contributed to the country’s overall export decline, government data showed Sunday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea's outbound shipments stood at $57.2 billion in May, marking the first on-year decline since January. Imports fell 5.3 percent to $50.3 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $6.94 billion. Of the country’s 15 major export item

June 1, 2025

LG Energy Solution begins LFP battery production for ESS in US

LG Energy Solution has begun the mass production of lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries for energy storage systems, or ESS, at its manufacturing plant in Holland, Michigan, the Korean battery maker said Sunday. According to LG Energy Solution, the rollout strengthens the company’s local production capabilities in North America to enable the stable supply of batteries to major clients and swift responses, while avoiding the impact of US tariffs and securing more favorable cost competitivene

June 1, 2025

S. Korea is global No. 2 in paid ChatGPT users, OpenAI says. But does that mean anything?

South Korea has the second-highest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers in the world, behind only the US. But that headline, announced by OpenAI on Monday during a press event in Seoul, may not mean exactly what it seems at first glance. The statement came from Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer, who was in town to announce the company’s new Seoul office, which is its third major base in Asia after Tokyo and Singapore. According to Kwon, Korea is now a top-five country for ChatGPT busines

June 1, 2025

Korea’s top scientists enticed by China's labs: survey

South Korea is losing many of its best scientific minds to labs overseas, particularly in China, according to a report released Wednesday. The survey, jointly conducted by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and local daily Dong-A Ilbo, has found that 61.5 percent of the country’s top researchers in science and engineering have received job offers from overseas institutions in the past five years, with China accounting for the overwhelming majority. KAST, one of South Korea’s most prest

May 31, 2025