Alaska LNG project gains momentum. Should Korea be part of it? SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - As Japan signals its intention to join the U.S.-backed Alaska LNG project, pressure is mounting on South Korea to consider following suit — despite deep concerns about the project’s economic and strategic viability. The massive infrastructure undertaking, long championed by U.S. President Donald Trump, envisions tapping natural gas reserves from Alaska’s North Slope, piping them more than 1,300 kilometers to a planned liquefaction facility in Nikiski, near Anchorage, and exporting the fuel to energy-hungry Asian markets. With a projected cost exceeding $45 billion, it ranks among the most ambitious energy projects in North America. On the surface, participation by South Korea — one of the world’s largest LNG importers — could yield strategic benefits, including long-term energy security and deeper integration into global supply chains. Yet major Korean energy firms remain hesitant, citing serious doubts about the project’s cost-efficiency and long-term competitiveness. “The engineering and logistical challenges of building in the Arctic are formidable,” said one senior industry official, who requested anonymity. “It’s not just about upfront investment — it’s about whether the gas will be affordable when it finally ships.” Indeed, financial viability is a major sticking point. Harsh terrain, remote access, and costly infrastructure have already deterred some of the world’s largest energy players. ExxonMobil, BP, and ConocoPhillips all exited the project in 2016, citing weak profitability. In 2021, China quietly shelved a $43 billion joint development deal it had signed with the state of Alaska four years earlier. Price forecasts further complicate the picture. Analysts estimate the landed cost of Alaska LNG in South Korea could exceed $13 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), far above the current Asian spot price of around $3.15. A return to global supply normalcy — or easing geopolitical tensions — could widen that gap, undermining the project's commercial case. That has kept potential Korean stakeholders like SK Innovation, POSCO International, and GS Caltex on the sidelines. SK Innovation, currently focused on streamlining its core businesses, lacks the financial bandwidth for new LNG ventures. GS Caltex imports only small volumes of LNG for in-house use and is structurally unsuited for megaproject participation. Still, the project has attracted interest from other corners of Korean industry. Shipbuilders and steelmakers are eyeing a potential windfall. Companies such as SeAH Steel and Dongkuk Steel could supply high-specification pipeline components, while Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries are positioned to secure orders for icebreaking LNG carriers designed for Arctic navigation. But analysts warn that any move to formally join the project would come with substantial financial and policy risk. “Alaska LNG faces steep uncertainties — from extreme climate conditions to long-term demand trends,” said Shin Hyun-don, a professor of energy resources engineering at Inha University. “If Korea finds participation unavoidable, it would be wiser to approach the project as a buyer of LNG, not a financial stakeholder.” 2025-07-28 13:59:17

[[K-Tech]] Samsung Electronics secures $16.5 billion Tesla chip contract SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics announced on Monday that it has secured one of the largest chip supply contracts in its history — a deal worth 22.8 trillion won, or approximately $16.5 billion — with what the company described as a “major global customer.” While Samsung declined to name the buyer, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed shortly after that the contract involves the production of the automaker’s next-generation AI chipset. The agreement, which spans from July 24 through the end of 2033, runs more than eight years and accounts for 7.6 percent of Samsung’s projected 2024 revenue. Analysts see the deal as a major step forward in the South Korean firm's bid to revitalize its struggling foundry business and narrow the gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). “This is a critical turning point for Samsung’s foundry operations,” said Lee Min-woo, a semiconductor analyst at NH Investment & Securities. “Not only is the size of the contract significant, but it also signals that top-tier customers are increasingly willing to diversify away from TSMC.” Samsung’s foundry division, which manufactures custom chips for clients, has reported a string of losses in recent quarters as it struggled to keep pace with TSMC’s dominance in advanced chipmaking. The Taiwanese rival holds a commanding lead in the production of high-performance chips used in artificial intelligence, mobile devices, and automotive applications. Samsung's shares closed at 70,400 won on Monday, climbing 4,500 won, or 6.83 percent, from the previous trading day. It was the first time Samsung's stock had finished above 70,000 won in roughly 11 months since Sept. 4 of last year, when its closing price was exactly 70,000 won. The identity of Samsung’s client had been withheld for confidentiality reasons, but Musk confirmed on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that Samsung will manufacture Tesla’s upcoming “AI6” chip at its new Texas facility. “Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip,” Musk wrote. “The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate.” Tesla currently relies on Samsung for production of its AI4 chip, while the AI5 — which Musk said just completed design — will be fabricated by TSMC, initially in Taiwan and later at its Arizona plant. The AI6, expected to debut between 2027 and 2028, is aimed at delivering up to 6,000 trillion operations per second (TOPS), more than double the peak performance of AI5. Musk added that Tesla would be closely involved in optimizing manufacturing at Samsung’s U.S. fab. “Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress,” he said. “And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house.” Beyond Tesla vehicles, the AI6 chip is expected to play a central role in a broader range of Tesla products, including its autonomous robots, such as the Optimus humanoid. Industry observers say the deal not only bolsters Samsung’s credentials in the race for next-generation AI chips, but also reflects a growing push by companies to diversify their supply chains amid rising geopolitical uncertainty and capacity constraints in Taiwan. 2025-07-28 10:56:58

Small business ownership continues to shrink in S. Korea, raising alarm over structural gaps SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - The share of small business owners in South Korea continues to shrink despite an uptick in government support. According to the latest figures from Statistics Korea, small business owners made up just 19.4 percent of all employed individuals as of the end of June, or 5.64 million people — a drop of 0.3 percentage points from January and 1.2 points from a year earlier. The decline marks a continuation of a long-term slide, falling below the 20 percent threshold for the first time in 61 years in 2023. In 2020, the figure stood at 20.6 percent. The trend, driven largely by a record number of business closures, has raised concerns about broader labor market implications. Data from the National Tax Service show that more than 1 million small business owners filed for closure in 2023 — the highest figure on record. Analysts say demographic decline, the rise of online platforms, and the 52-hour workweek are fundamentally changing the business environment, adding the continued drop in small business ownership could negatively impact the broader labor market. The South Korean government has expanded financial backing for small businesses in recent years, positioning them as key to job creation and social mobility. The budget for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups increased from 13.5 trillion won in 2023 to 15.2 trillion won (approximately $11 billion) this year, with direct support for microbusinesses rising to 5.4 trillion won in 2025. But experts argue that subsidies alone are not enough to reverse the downward trajectory. Particular concern centers around oversaturated service sectors such as restaurants, cafes and snack bars, where low entry barriers obscure high closure rates. According to data from the National Tax Statistics Portal, the average three-year survival rate for the 100 most common consumer-facing businesses was just 53.8 percent as of 2023. Survival rates were even lower for specific categories: 46.6 percent for snack shops, 46.8 percent for chicken and pizza restaurants, and 53.2 percent for coffee and beverage outlets. Analysts say the current support framework doesn’t address the structural weaknesses in South Korea’s small business ecosystem. The government is now being urged to move beyond subsidies and look at measures like restricting entry into already saturated markets. Policy analysts and trade groups have called for a multi-pronged approach that includes: regulating market entry in overcrowded sectors, providing training and exit support for struggling business owners, offering data-driven insights into viable industries, and strengthening oversight and alignment in the franchise sector. 2025-07-28 10:01:58

[[K-Tech]] LG Energy Solution returns to profitability without US subsidies SEOUL, July 25 (AJP) - LG Energy Solution has swung back to profitability without relying on U.S. subsidies for the first time in six quarters, an achievement the South Korean battery maker attributed to rising North American production and aggressive cost-reduction efforts. The company reported on Friday that it posted a provisional operating profit of 492.2 billion won, or roughly $355 million, in the second quarter — up 152 percent from a year earlier. Net income reached 90.6 billion won, reversing a loss, while revenue declined 9.7 percent to 5.57 trillion won ($4 billion), reflecting weaker demand and lower raw material prices. Notably, even after excluding the 490.8 billion won in benefits from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act’s advanced manufacturing production credit (AMPC), the company reported a modest operating profit of 1.4 billion won — its first profit on a pre-subsidy basis in a year and a half. “Sales volume in North America increased on the back of steady EV battery shipments and the ramp-up of our new energy storage system plant in Holland, Michigan,” Lee Chang-sil, the company’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. “That said, weaker customer sentiment driven by policy uncertainty and falling metal prices weighed on overall revenue.” Lee credited the return to profitability — excluding subsidies — to a higher share of premium, U.S.-linked production and a sweeping effort to rein in costs across operations, including cuts in materials and broader efficiency initiatives. The turnaround comes as the company, a key supplier to General Motors and Tesla, works to diversify its customer base and battery offerings. In June, LG Energy Solution secured its first cylindrical battery supply deal with China’s Chery Automobile, a move seen as a vote of confidence in the company’s 46-series cell technology. The Holland plant, a critical piece of LG's North American strategy, has also begun mass-producing long-cell lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, aimed at energy storage system applications. 2025-07-25 14:10:50

Hyundai Mobis posts strong second quarter despite global headwinds SEOUL, July 25 (AJP) - Hyundai Mobis reported robust second-quarter earnings on Friday, buoyed by the expansion of its electrification business in North America and a favorable foreign exchange environment that helped lift margins across its core auto parts operations. The South Korean auto parts firm posted revenue of 15.94 trillion won, or about $11 billion, for the April–June period, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit jumped 36.8 percent to 870 billion won ($640 million), reflecting improved profitability across its portfolio of high-value components. The company attributed the performance to a ramp-up at its electrification plant in North America and rising global demand for advanced automotive electronics, including sensors and controllers used in electric and connected vehicles. Hyundai Mobis also cited growing global sales of after-sales service parts and company-wide cost discipline as key drivers of the profit surge, alongside currency gains that worked in the firm’s favor. In the first half of the year, Hyundai Mobis recorded revenue of 30.69 trillion won ($21.8 billion) and operating profit of 1.65 trillion won ($1.2 billion), representing year-over-year increases of 7.6 percent and 39.7 percent, respectively. Still, the company acknowledged external headwinds. “Some customer projects have been postponed due to tariff-related uncertainties and weaker electric vehicle demand,” the firm said in a statement. “However, we expect large-scale orders to concentrate in the second half and remain committed to achieving our full-year targets.” As part of a broader push to boost shareholder returns, Hyundai Mobis said it will raise its interim dividend from 1,000 won to 1,500 won per share. It also plans to repurchase and cancel treasury shares worth 110 billion won and retire an additional 700,000 shares already in its holdings. 2025-07-25 13:29:54

[[K-Tech]] Kakao releases its own open-source AI models SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - Kakao has released two new open-source artificial intelligence models, including Korea’s first publicly available mixture-of-experts (MoE) model and a lightweight multimodal model. The company announced on Thursday that both models — Kanana-1.5-v-3b, a compact multimodal language model, and Kanana-1.5-15.7b-a3b, an MoE model designed for efficient inference — are now available on Hugging Face, a leading platform for open-source AI tools. The release underscores Kakao’s ambitions to move beyond consumer messaging and establish itself as a serious player in advanced AI research and development. “As a developer of in-house models and a provider of large-scale digital services like KakaoTalk, we see it as our role to help strengthen Korea’s AI infrastructure,” the company said in a statement. Multimodal AI models are capable of processing various forms of input — text, images, and sometimes audio — simultaneously. The Kanana-1.5-v-3b model, optimized for deployment in mobile and IoT environments, can understand images and follow complex user instructions in both Korean and English. Built entirely with Kakao’s own technology, the model delivers performance that the company says rivals larger international offerings — achieving up to 128 percent higher instruction-following accuracy than comparable open-source Korean multimodal models. 2025-07-24 14:51:33

Ex-Naver chief eager to bring tech-savvy vision to small business policy as minister SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - Han Seong-sook, the former CEO of Naver and one of South Korea’s most prominent tech executives, is set to lead the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Her appointment marks a decisive shift toward digital transformation in the country’s small business policy. Best known for steering Naver from 2017 to 2022 and being named to Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women International” list for four consecutive years, Han brings deep experience in platform innovation and digital commerce. During her tenure, she championed small merchants through initiatives such as “Project Flower,” a 600 billion won (approximately $430 million) program aimed at helping small businesses thrive in the digital economy. That record ultimately helped win support across party lines despite initial concerns about her limited exposure to traditional small business sectors. The National Assembly’s Committee on Industry, Trade, Energy, SMEs, and Startups formally adopted Han’s confirmation hearing report in a full session on July 23, just over a week after her July 15 hearing. The presidential office praised her “deep understanding and extensive experience,” citing her private-sector background as a strength in reshaping small business policy for a rapidly changing economic environment. In outlining her policy vision, Han identified five strategic goals: strengthening safety nets for small businesses, accelerating AI adoption among SMEs, advancing the startup and venture ecosystem, enforcing fair market practices, and revitalizing regional economies. “Digital transformation is no longer optional — it’s a matter of survival,” she said. “We must take bold, structural steps to ensure small businesses can compete and grow in this new era.” With Deputy Minister Noh Yong-seok recently installed and Han’s appointment now imminent, the administration’s SME leadership is coming into focus — one that signals a clear pivot toward tech-driven growth and modernization for South Korea’s small and mid-sized enterprises. 2025-07-24 10:49:01

[[K-tech]] SK hynix could find opportunities as Nvidia faces supply bottleneck for China-bound AI chips SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - Despite receiving a green light from Washington to apply for export licenses for its H20 artificial intelligence chip, Nvidia is grappling with production constraints that could sharply limit shipments to China. The H20, a lower-spec AI chip tailored to comply with U.S. export controls, was expected to re-enter the Chinese market following a recent regulatory shift. Chinese technology giants including ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent are eager to acquire the H20, which had been blocked from import under U.S. restrictions. With those curbs now partially relaxed, a backlog of pent-up demand remains. Yet Nvidia’s ability to meet that demand appears increasingly uncertain. The chipmaker halted mass production of the H20 at TSMC during last year’s export ban. Since then, TSMC has reallocated the freed capacity to other clients. During a recent press conference in Beijing, Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, said new production orders could take “at least nine months” before delivery. Caught between bureaucratic ambiguity and mounting political scrutiny, Nvidia now faces a growing supply bottleneck that threatens to stall its return to the Chinese market. One potential beneficiary of the logjam is South Korea’s SK hynix. The company began supplying its advanced 8-layer HBM3E (high-bandwidth memory) chips for use in the H20 earlier this year, replacing the previous-generation HBM3 to boost performance. Should Nvidia retain that configuration for China-bound shipments, SK hynix could be well-positioned to capitalize. Although U.S.-based Micron is also qualified to supply HBM3E memory, analysts say SK hynix is likely to maintain its lead due to its longstanding partnership with Nvidia and demonstrated manufacturing yields. The company has said it plans to devote 80 percent of its HBM3E output this year to 12-layer chips and the remaining 20 percent to 8-layer versions. That ratio, however, could be adjusted if demand for the H20 increases. 2025-07-23 15:19:35

[[K-Tech]] Hanwha's US shipyard to build LNG carrier in $250 million deal SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - Hanwha Ocean has signed a 348 billion won (approximately $250 million) contract with its American affiliate, Hanwha Philly Shipyard, to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. The agreement includes an option for a second vessel and highlights Hanwha Group’s broader strategy to position itself at the forefront of U.S. regulatory changes requiring domestically built LNG carriers for American gas exports starting in 2029. The move comes amid a resurgence of interest in strengthening domestic shipbuilding capabilities in the United States, particularly in sectors deemed critical to energy and national security. Under the terms of the deal, Hanwha Philly Shipyard, located in Pennsylvania, will serve as the primary contractor for the project, which is commissioned by another group company, Hanwha Shipping. The actual construction, however, will be subcontracted to Hanwha Ocean’s advanced shipbuilding facilities in Geoje. The vessel will be built to comply with U.S. Coast Guard regulations and other American maritime safety standards, with Hanwha Philly Shipyard overseeing the certification process. “If the vessel is to be registered as a U.S. ship, it must meet USCG standards and obtain relevant certifications,” the company said in a statement. “Hanwha Philly Shipyard, with its extensive experience building ships in the U.S., will lead these processes.” Hanwha Ocean sees the contract as an opportunity to transfer its LNG carrier expertise — typically reserved for high-end, technologically advanced vessels — to its U.S. affiliate. “Hanwha Philly Shipyard is a core facility that has built over half of all large commercial vessels subject to the Jones Act in the U.S.,” a Hanwha Ocean official said. “This project will elevate Hanwha Philly Shipyard’s technical capacity by expanding into the complex LNG carrier segment, while also integrating Hanwha Ocean’s global shipbuilding expertise into the U.S. maritime industry.” 2025-07-23 10:54:05

HMM expands global port investments with major projects in Brazil, Spain SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - HMM, South Korea’s largest shipping company, is accelerating its push into international port terminal operations, targeting long-term leases and acquisitions as it seeks to cement its position in the global logistics market. The company plans to invest in terminals with operating rights spanning 20 to 30 years, generating revenue through vessel management, cargo handling, storage, and integrated logistics services. According to industry sources, HMM has decided to join the bidding process for Brazil’s Tecon 10 project, a new mega-terminal to be constructed at the Port of Santos, the busiest port in Latin America. The Brazilian government aims to develop the terminal on a 620,000-square-meter site near Sao Paulo, with a projected annual capacity of 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. The move comes as trade volumes between South America and global markets continue to surge, intensifying congestion at Santos, which currently handles around 6 million TEUs annually. With 58 privately operated terminals, the addition of Tecon 10 is expected to boost the port’s throughput by roughly 50 percent, easing longstanding capacity bottlenecks. HMM is also expanding its presence in Europe. The company will invest 35 million euros to enlarge its terminal at the Port of Algeciras in southern Spain. The expansion will increase the facility’s size from 300,000 square meters to 460,000 square meters, raising its annual handling capacity from 1.6 million to 2.1 million TEUs. As part of the investment, HMM has extended its operating rights for the Algeciras terminal by 22 years, from 2043 to 2065. HMM currently operates eight terminals across six countries, as it continues to expand its global logistics network. 2025-07-22 17:35:53