Aju Press - Asia News Hub

Journalist

Kim Dong-young김동영

ReporterSamsung Biologics, CJ CheilJedang, LG Chem, Celltrion, Naver, Krafton, Nexon, Hyundai Mobis etc. & energy, game, food, bio, petrochemical, AI

Kim Dong-young is a bilingual journalist at AJU Press (AJP), covering Korean tech, energy, and bio/pharma.
He reports from the field at events like CES and APEC, runs AJP's YouTube channels,
and is pursuing a master's at Sogang's MOT program. "I try everything in this AI era that can improve yet preserve the facts. Journalism still serves as my core."

Latest by Kim Dong-young

Naver Cloud, Siemens partner to bring AI to factory floors SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Naver Cloud has joined forces with Siemens to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence across the manufacturing sector. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday at Naver 1784 in Seongnam, south of Seoul. Naver Cloud chief executive Kim Yu-won and Siemens Korea President Chung Ha-joong attended, alongside Cedrik Neike, a member of the Siemens managing board and chief executive of its Digital Industries division. Under the deal, the partners aim to forge an innovation model for manufacturing by pairing Naver Cloud's AI and cloud capabilities with Siemens' expertise in industrial automation and digitalization. The companies plan to combine Siemens' automation, digital-twin, industrial-AI and OT/IT convergence solutions with Naver Cloud's infrastructure. Building on Naver Cloud's hyperscale and modular data centers, they will also pursue joint customer acquisition, market expansion and the co-development of reference architectures. "We will help domestic manufacturers feel the tangible value of AI on the ground, drawing on an AI and cloud platform equipped with data sovereignty and the capacity to meet local regulations," said Kim. Neike said Siemens would accelerate manufacturing innovation by placing AI at the heart of the entire process from design to production and operation, setting a new standard for the industries of the future. 2026-06-24 10:03:27
NC AI unveils upgraded Varco 3D model with sharper shape fidelity SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - NC AI, the artificial intelligence arm of South Korean game maker NC, announced it had completed development of Varco 3D 2.0, the latest version of its 3D asset-generation service. The new model builds on user feedback and in-house research gathered since the original Varco 3D launched last year, sharply boosting performance over its predecessor, the company said. NC AI said Wednesday the upgrade tackles distortion of original shapes, long regarded as the biggest weakness of generative 3D AI, by faithfully preserving an image's silhouette and proportions while reproducing intricate ornamentation and fine structure with high accuracy. Varco 3D 2.0 scored 0.449 on the Uni3D benchmark, an evaluation metric and standard used in artificial intelligence and computer vision, a 40.8 percent gain over version 1.1. The model supports textures of up to 4K resolution, rendering color, material and even wear with lifelike detail. The tool can generate in about three minutes a 3D asset that once took an expert roughly four weeks to build, slashing data-construction costs and time, NC AI said. The model will be applied to the Varco 3D software-as-a-service platform in July, with existing users upgraded automatically. "Varco 3D 2.0 will transform the working environment of content creators through unrivalled shape retention and high-quality texture expression," said NC AI chief executive Lee Yeon-soo, adding the company would grow it into core infrastructure for the era of physical AI and digital twins. 2026-06-24 09:18:37
KOTRA forms task force to seize Middle East rebuilding, export openings SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - South Korea's state trade promotion agency is mobilizing to help domestic firms recover exports and stake out early positions in Middle East reconstruction markets, betting that a fragile US-Iran ceasefire will reopen commercial doors across the region. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, known as KOTRA, said it convened an emergency review meeting on Tuesday chaired by president Kang Kyung-sung to map its response to the truce between Washington and Tehran. Heads of 13 trade offices across the Middle East joined by video link to brief headquarters on conditions on the ground, weighing a swift response to the normalization of Hormuz shipping lanes, an early revival of exports to the region and the hunt for promising postwar markets. KOTRA said it would throw its weight behind exports of defense goods, consumer products and medical devices. On defense, it plans consultation sessions with state-owned arms makers and government bodies in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman, while courting investment as demand grows to localize maintenance, repair and overhaul work. The agency also launched a "post-Middle East" task force running five divisions covering trend analysis, export recovery, reconstruction infrastructure, promising exports and logistics. It said it would expand "Team Korea" public-private ventures to bid on digital infrastructure and energy-security projects, and prepare seminars on Iran's potential opening should US sanctions ease. "We will deploy a swift and precise strategy centered on entry footholds and promising items, so that companies can not only restore their Middle East exports but also seize fresh opportunities," said Kang. 2026-06-23 16:50:14
Homeplus pays April, May wages as Express sale proceeds SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - Homeplus, the South Korean hypermarket chain mired in court-led rehabilitation, paid its long-overdue April and May wages, drawing on funds widely believed to have come from the sale of its supermarket unit. Industry reports say the cash-strapped retailer disbursed the unpaid 75 percent of April salaries along with full May wages and shutdown allowances to all employees on Tuesday morning. The company declined to identify the source of the funds, though proceeds from the Homeplus Express sale, settled in full the previous day, are presumed to have been tapped. June wages, however, remain unpaid. Homeplus pays salaries on the 21st of each month, meaning the payment due last Friday has yet to be made, leaving workers in continued limbo. Homeplus filed for court receivership in March last year to pursue restructuring and has spent more than a year under legal administration. Having offloaded its Express supermarket arm, the company has launched a pre-approval merger and acquisition process for its remaining operations, yet it continues to struggle to raise the 200 billion won ($129.9 million) required to carry out its rehabilitation plan. The retailer has asked its largest creditor, Meritz Financial Group, for a 200 billion won debtor-in-possession loan, but talks remain deadlocked as Meritz demands conditions including a personal guarantee from MBK Partners chairman Michael Kim. 2026-06-23 15:32:24
LG Chem to invest $9.7 billion in R&D for AI-driven materials shift SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - LG Chem will pour 15 trillion won ($9.75 billion) into research and development through 2035 as South Korea's largest chemical maker pivots toward high-value, AI-driven materials. Chief executive Kim Dong-chun told a town hall meeting on Monday that the company would cultivate semiconductor, mobility and robotics materials, along with cancer drugs, as its core future businesses, sharpening a portfolio long anchored in commodity chemicals. The strategy comes as global oversupply and intensifying competition erode margins across the traditional petrochemical industry, pushing producers toward faster-growing, higher-margin sectors. LG Chem aims to reach a double-digit operating margin by 2030. About 70 percent of the R&D budget will flow to the targeted growth businesses, with the company concentrating on AI-based applications and frontier technologies. LG Chem said it had set up a new business-development unit reporting directly to the CEO in June and would pursue mergers and acquisitions to accelerate expansion. In semiconductors, the company plans to deepen its advanced-packaging lineup and grow electronic-materials revenue to 2 trillion won by 2030, while extending its mobility reach into robot structural and precision-bonding materials. It also intends to strengthen its cancer-drug pipeline through global trials, licensing and partnerships. "LG Chem will leap forward into a technology-strong converting company," Kim said, vowing to focus capabilities on a growth axis centered on semiconductor, mobility and robotics materials and cancer drugs. 2026-06-23 10:57:11
World-OKTA readies 2026 Korea-China trade expo in Shenzhen SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - The World Federation of Overseas Korean Traders Associations (World-OKTA) has formally launched an organizing committee for the 2026 Korea-China economic and trade exchange expo, opening preparations for the October event in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. The federation said Tuesday it held an inaugural ceremony for the committee in Beijing on June 21, aiming to recruit exhibitors, build local cooperation channels, match buyers and steer on-the-ground operations for the fair. The expo will run on Oct. 9 and 10 at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, alongside the 30th World Korean Business Convention from Oct. 8 to 11. World-OKTA expects about 6,000 participants, including government officials from both countries, exporters, member companies and overseas buyers. World-OKTA is positioning the fair as a platform linking competitive Korean firms with the Chinese market and global buyers, weaving together exhibitions, export consultations, investment talks and networking. It is targeting participation from some 750 companies and institutions and the recruitment of about 2,000 buyers. "This expo will go beyond a mere exhibition to become a genuine arena of economic cooperation connecting Korea's leading firms, the Chinese market and global buyers," said Park Jong-bum, chairman of World-OKTA. 2026-06-23 10:32:11
Nexon launches $162 million fund for early-stage game studios SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - Nexon is rolling out a five-year, 250 billion won ($162.2 million) investment program aimed at seeding early-stage game developers, moving to fill what it described as a widening capital gap in South Korea's domestic gaming market. The South Korean game maker said Tuesday it would channel money into studios at the seed and Series A stages, pairing large-scale private capital with government policy funds in a public-private structure designed to revive faltering investor appetite for fledgling developers. To run the effort, Nexon has established a dedicated unit, Nexon Partners, which joined forces with games-focused venture firm Kona Venture Partners to launch a 120 billion won strategic fund. The fund draws 60 billion won from the Culture Ministry's intellectual-property mother fund, while Nexon will separately inject about 130 billion won to bankroll follow-on growth. The program adopts an open-ecosystem model, extending capital even to titles Nexon does not publish itself, and stretches the definition of a game to embrace broader IP such as "gamified AI." Investment targets include studios building globally scalable IP and next-generation games powered by emerging technologies. "In this market environment, we will resolve the early-stage funding gap through public-private cooperation and operate this as a long-term ecosystem investment program that uncovers the next generation of global IP born out of the AI transition," said Lee Jung-hun, chief executive of Nexon Partners. 2026-06-23 08:52:31
Samsung, Lotte vie for CDMO supremacy as K-bio storms BIO USA SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - South Korean chips are not the only hot-selling commodities in the United States. Biopharmaceutical heavyweights have descended on the Pacific coast city of San Diego, turning the world's largest biotech gathering into a proving ground for the country's fast-expanding contract manufacturing ambitions. The 2026 BIO International Convention, known as BIO USA, runs from Monday through Thursday at the San Diego Convention Center under the theme "Driven by Purpose," drawing some 20,000 industry figures from more than 70 countries. For the first time, the event features a dedicated session on Korea's bioindustry, titled "Korea Rising: Don't Be Late to Asia's Next Innovation Hub," underscoring the sector's growing global standing. The Korea Pavilion, run for a 23rd year by the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, hosts 51 domestic firms and institutions, with 29 set to present pipelines and platform technologies on an open stage. "BIO USA is a festival and a battleground where investment and partnering in the global bioindustry unfold most dynamically," said Lee Seung-gyu, vice chairman of the association. "This year we have significantly strengthened our linked programs, including an integrated Korea Night, and we will provide all-out support so that Korean firms can generate tangible business results with global big pharma and investors." Yet the fiercest contest on the show floor is a domestic one: a race between Samsung Biologics, the established titan, and Lotte Biologics, the upstart challenger, to win a larger share of a post-China manufacturing order. The timing may be unusually favorable. Washington's effort to reshape supply chains away from China has handed Korean contract development and manufacturing organizations, or CDMOs, a rare opening. The U.S. Biosecure Act, enacted in December, alongside Section 232 tariff measures and a push to expand biosimilars through pharmacy-benefit reforms, is expected to redirect business toward suppliers in South Korea, Japan and India. Samsung Biologics arrives as the clear front-runner. The company is staging a solo booth for a 14th consecutive year, the only Korean company to have done so since its founding in 2011. Samsung is leveraging its growing global footprint to appeal to multinational drugmakers seeking to diversify production beyond a single geography. In December, it agreed to acquire a biologics plant in Rockville, Maryland, from GlaxoSmithKline for about $280 million, securing its first U.S. manufacturing base. The acquisition was completed in the first quarter. The strategy is already paying off. Samsung Biologics booked a record 6.8 trillion won ($4.4 billion) in new orders last year and now counts 17 of the world's 20 largest pharmaceutical companies among its clients. James Choi, executive vice president, is slated to appear as a panelist in the Korea Rising session, while Jeff Mason, sales director for the Americas, will discuss the company's manufacturing capabilities in an on-site presentation. For Celltrion, attending for a 17th consecutive year, the focus is artificial intelligence. The company secured a booth in the event's AI zone to showcase AI-driven drug discovery, multispecific antibody design and antibody-drug conjugate technologies. "Through this event, Celltrion plans to actively promote its future business vision and technological competitiveness as it grows beyond biosimilars into a global innovative-drug company," a company spokesperson said. If Samsung represents Korean CDMO at its most muscular, Lotte Biologics embodies its boldest gamble. The unit has emerged as a new growth engine for Lotte Group as the retail-heavy conglomerate grapples with liquidity strains elsewhere in its empire, a high-stakes bet on a future built around biologics. The symbolism runs deep. In a November reshuffle, Shin Yoo-yeol, the eldest son of Chairman Shin Dong-bin, was named co-chief executive alongside James Park, taking direct command of a domestic affiliate for the first time. Park himself is a Samsung Biologics veteran who previously led global sales at the larger rival. Lotte has also recruited several former Samsung executives in an effort to import the market leader's playbook. The challenger arrives at BIO USA with fresh evidence of progress. On Monday, Lotte announced it had obtained occupancy approval for the first plant at its Songdo Bio Campus in Incheon, completing the main construction roughly two years after breaking ground. The 120,000-liter antibody facility, equipped with eight 15,000-liter stainless-steel bioreactors and a real-time monitoring system, will begin commissioning and validation work in the second half of the year. Lotte is pursuing a "dual-site" strategy that links the Songdo campus with its Syracuse facility in New York, with Syracuse handling early-stage and clinical work and Songdo dedicated to large-scale commercial production. That strategy is beginning to gain traction. Lotte signed three contracts last year and added more in 2026, including a January deal with Japan's Rakuten Medical to produce a head-and-neck cancer therapy and a May agreement expanding antibody production work for Britain's Ottimo Pharma. Still, the stakes are considerable. Lotte Biologics remains in the red, and utilization at its lone revenue-generating Syracuse plant fell to about 14 percent in the first quarter from 74 percent a year earlier after a key customer contract expired. Winning marquee orders has become both a corporate imperative and a personal test for Shin, whose standing as heir apparent is increasingly tied to the venture's fortunes. Samsung, for its part, is positioning itself as the partner of choice in a reordered market, arguing that speed and scale will prove decisive as pharmaceutical companies diversify away from Chinese suppliers. For now, the two Korean firms are chasing the same prize from opposite ends of the field — one defending a hard-won lead, the other scrambling to close the gap. 2026-06-22 15:36:00
Kakao Games names co-CEOs as LY takeover takes hold SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - Kakao Games installed a co-chief executive structure, appointing Line Games veteran Kim Tae-hwan and company insider Lee Si-woo to steer the games publisher into a new chapter under its Japanese backer. The appointments, ratified at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, south of Seoul, follow the firm's acquisition by a special purpose vehicle funded by LY, or Line Yahoo, the operator of the Line messenger. Kim spent years at Nexon, holding senior strategy and business-development roles across its Korean, Japanese and U.S. arms before joining Line Games in 2023. He will oversee long-term strategy, global expansion and mergers. Lee, a founding-era executive, will run live-service operations, new releases and the firm's intellectual-property portfolio. "Aggressive investment and innovation are essential to compete in a fiercely contested global market," Kim said, pledging to harness the company's strengthened capital base to accelerate overseas growth. LY's investment vehicle, LAAA Investment, became the largest shareholder last week with a 33.43 percent stake, after injecting about 300 billion won ($194.9 million) through a share purchase, a rights offering and convertible bonds. The company's chief financial officer damped speculation of a full merger with Line Games, saying no decision had been made, though he flagged room for business cooperation and signaled a push into Southeast Asia using Line's regional platform. The shake-up unseats former chief executive Han Sang-woo, who departs after roughly two years. A minority shareholders' group used the meeting to demand a clearer return policy and the disclosure of launch dates for key upcoming titles, including Odin Q: Valkyrie's Call and ArcheAge Chronicles. Kakao Games separately named Sungkyunkwan University professor Lim Tay-seop as an outside director and Petrichor Partners executive Seo Seok-ho as a non-executive director. 2026-06-22 12:54:49
AI hiring spreads across South Korean industries SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - Job postings seeking artificial intelligence skills in South Korea have surged about 70 percent so far this year, a sign that demand for AI talent is spilling well beyond the technology sector into nearly every corner of the economy, according to recruitment platform Jobkorea. About 15,000 postings carrying the keyword "AI" were registered between January and May, a record high and seven times the 10 percent growth in overall job listings during the same period, the platform's operator Worxphere said on Monday. Demand was especially pronounced among entry-level roles, where AI-related postings climbed about 80 percent from a year earlier, suggesting employers are racing to secure not only experienced hires but also a future pipeline of talent. AI postings rose in 10 of 11 industries surveyed, led by education with a 154 percent jump in media and advertising and a 139 percent rise in culture, arts and design. Healthcare and pharmaceuticals followed, underscoring how far the hiring drive has reached beyond software firms. "The biggest feature of this year's job market is that, unlike in the past, demand for AI talent is no longer confined to specific industries but has spread across all sectors," a JobKorea official said. The wave marks a second growth spurt since generative AI first entered the mainstream four years ago, with major employers including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix now competing aggressively to recruit AI and data specialists. 2026-06-22 10:47:10