Lotte chairman orders sweeping overhaul as conglomerate confronts deepening crisis

SEOUL, July 18 (AJP) - Shin Dong-bin, the chairman of South Korea’s Lotte Group, has ordered a sweeping business overhaul, calling for structural reform and long-term innovation as the retail-to-chemicals conglomerate faces what analysts describe as the most serious crisis in its history. The directive came during a rare two-day forum that concluded Thursday at the Lotte Human Resources Development Center in Osan, south of Seoul. The meeting brought together some 80 senior

July 18, 2025

Prominent Korean AI researcher departs OpenAI to join Meta

SEOUL, July 18 (AJP) - Hyung Won Chung, a prominent researcher at OpenAI and the only Korean contributor to its cutting-edge o1 model, has joined Meta’s newly formed Superintelligence Lab. Chung will move to Meta alongside Jason Wei, another former OpenAI researcher with whom he collaborated on both the o1 model and OpenAI’s Deep Research initiative. Chung, who earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2019, previously spent four years at Go

July 18, 2025

[K-Tech] Low birthrate forces military pivot toward drones, automation

SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - With fewer than 240,000 babies born in South Korea last year, the nation’s demographic decline is accelerating at a pace that is now shaping defense policy as urgently as it has shaped economic and social planning. South Korea’s total fertility rate remains one of the lowest in the world, at approximately 0.75 children per woman. The implications for national defense are profound. The armed forces, which maintained a troop strength of around 6

July 18, 2025

Chey Tae-won calls APEC Summit showcase for Korean democracy

SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group and president of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said Thursday this year’s APEC Summit in Seoul will serve as a “grand showcase of Korea’s economic strength” and a rare opportunity to bring global business leaders into direct dialogue. Speaking at the opening of the 48th KCCI Summer Forum in Gyeongju, Chey cast the October summit as both a symbolic and strategic milestone for the c

July 17, 2025

Goldman Sachs downgrades SK hynix, citing risks of HBM price decline

SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - Goldman Sachs downgraded its investment rating on SK hynix to "neutral" from "buy" on Thursday, warning that intensifying competition in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market could trigger the first price decline in the segment next year. In a research note, the U.S. investment bank cautioned that pricing power is gradually shifting to major customers — such as Nvidia — potentially undermining the profitability of HBM supplie

July 17, 2025

President Lee appoints former Doosan chairman to lead trade mission to Washington

SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has tapped Park Yong-maan, the former chairman of Doosan Group, to head a special envoy delegation to the United States, ruling party officials said Thursday. The delegation, which is set to depart for Washington next week, includes Democratic Party lawmaker Han Jun-ho and Kim Woo-young, a former senior political aide. Park will serve as the chief envoy. The appointment comes at a critical moment in U.S.–South Kore

July 17, 2025

Kia to equip upcoming EV5 with CATL batteries

SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, will use batteries made by China’s CATL in its upcoming EV5 electric compact SUV, expanding Hyundai’s reliance on Chinese battery technology. The EV5, scheduled to launch in September, will be equipped with CATL’s nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery packs, which have a capacity of 81.4 kilowatt-hours, according to Kia officials. NCM batteries, while more costly due to volatile raw material prices

July 17, 2025

Samsung chairman escapes legal peril as Supreme Court upholds acquittal

SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong on charges stemming from the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates and related accounting practices — concluding a nearly five-year legal battle that once threatened to upend the leadership of the country’s largest conglomerate. The court, presided over by Chief Justice Oh Seok-jun, affirmed lower court rulings that cleare

July 17, 2025

KOGAS anchors Korea's energy strategy in age of AI, uncertainty

Editor's Note: This article is the 27th installment in our series on Asia's top 100 companies, exploring the strategies, challenges, and innovations driving the region's most influential corporations. SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - As artificial intelligence reshapes global energy consumption patterns, the Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) is placing a bold wager on liquefied natural gas. The state-run energy company reported this week that the first shipment of LNG from the Ca

July 17, 2025

[K-Tech] Hanwha brings 3D printing to US shipyard in push for LNG, naval market share

SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - Hanwha is rolling out advanced 3D printing technologies at Philly Shipyard, part of a sweeping plan to transform the historic U.S. shipbuilding site into a hub for high-value commercial and military vessels. Hanwha Ocean and Hanwha Systems, which jointly acquired the Philadelphia-based facility in 2023, have begun deploying metal additive manufacturing processes to fabricate complex components directly on-site — a shift that marks a departure from trad

July 16, 2025