Factory Fire in Siheung’s Geumi-dong Sends Up Thick Black Smoke A fire broke out in Geumi-dong in Siheung, Gyeonggi province. On Tuesday, the Siheung city government said in a disaster safety text alert, "A factory fire has occurred at 554-4, Geumi-dong, and a large amount of black smoke is being generated." It urged nearby drivers to detour and asked residents in the area to close their windows and take other safety precautions. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-01-28 16:13:28

Samsung C&T Posts 29.6% Jump in Q4 Operating Profit to 822.2 Billion Won Samsung C&T said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that its fourth-quarter operating profit rose 29.6% from a year earlier to 822.2 billion won on a consolidated basis. Revenue increased 8.4% to 10.8324 trillion won. Net profit surged 137.6% to 1.5582 trillion won. For the full year, revenue totaled 40.7422 trillion won and operating profit was 3.2927 trillion won. Compared with the previous year, revenue fell 3.2% while operating profit rose 10.4%. Samsung C&T said it maintained solid results despite growing global uncertainty and shifts in the business environment, citing a diversified portfolio and competitiveness across its divisions. By business segment, the construction unit posted weaker results as large projects, including high-tech work, moved into completion stages. The trading unit lifted revenue by expanding sales despite the spread of protectionism, but operating profit edged down. The fashion unit saw a slight rise in revenue, but operating profit declined due to higher costs including marketing. The resort unit reported higher revenue on expanded food service and food-and-beverage distribution.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-01-28 16:13:11

Hong Kong Signs Precious Metals Cooperation Deal With Shanghai Gold Exchange Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said Jan. 26 that it signed a cooperation agreement on precious metals trading with mainland China’s Shanghai Gold Exchange at the Asian Financial Forum being held in Hong Kong. The agreement includes setting up a new company, the Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing System, fully funded by the Hong Kong government. The Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing System will be chaired by Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary Christopher Hui, with a Shanghai Gold Exchange representative serving as vice chair. A Hong Kong central clearing system specializing in gold trading, managed by the company, is expected to begin a pilot run within the year. The agreement also includes support to expand gold storage capacity at the Airport Authority Hong Kong and financial institutions. The goal is to increase capacity to more than 2,000 tons within three years. Hui said the Hong Kong government plans to submit a bill in the first half of this year to include precious metals among eligible investments for tax incentives for “single family offices,” including those set up for funds or a single wealthy family.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-01-28 16:13:05

South Korea rejects Lotte Insurance turnaround plan, moves toward stricter corrective action South Korea’s financial regulators plan to step up prompt corrective action against Lotte Insurance to a management improvement demand after rejecting the insurer’s turnaround plan. The Financial Services Commission said it disapproved Lotte Insurance’s management improvement plan, submitted on Jan. 2, at a regular meeting on Tuesday. The FSC said the plan lacked specificity, feasibility and supporting grounds. After a prior-notice process, the company’s current management improvement recommendation is expected to be upgraded to a management improvement demand. Prompt corrective action has three levels: recommendation, demand and order. If a management improvement demand is imposed, regulators can require steps such as replacing executives, partially suspending insurance business, reducing staff and organization, limiting or disposing of risky assets, and restructuring subsidiaries. They can also restrict branch closures, mergers or openings, or require the company to draw up a sale plan. Measures that were previously only recommended — including raising capital, cutting business expenses, disposing of bad assets, restructuring staff and organization, limiting dividends — can also be required. After receiving a management improvement demand, Lotte Insurance must submit a revised plan within two months. If regulators also reject that plan, the action could be escalated to a management improvement order, the highest level. Industry observers said the rejected plan likely did not sufficiently address a capital increase sought by regulators. Lotte Insurance has said its ability to raise capital on its own is limited because any capital increase is decided by its largest shareholder, JKL Partners. If the corrective action is upgraded, Lotte Insurance may again pursue legal action. When it received a management improvement recommendation in November last year, it filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the measure and also sought an injunction at the Seoul Administrative Court. The injunction request was denied. A financial regulator said authorities will “review necessary follow-up measures in accordance with laws and principles.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-01-28 16:12:43

Korea Sports Council Vows Zero Tolerance in Ski National Team Selection Probe The Korea Sports Council said it will take strict action under a zero-tolerance policy over allegations of match-fixing and unfairness in selecting national team athletes in skiing. The council said Tuesday that it is “actively cooperating” with an ongoing police investigation. It said that if authorities confirm match-fixing, improper interference in selections or conflicts of interest that undermined fairness, it will act “regardless of position, relationships or past practices,” applying a zero-tolerance standard. In the sports community, questions have been raised about whether an unsuitable person was involved with a Korea Ski Association committee during the selection process for the national team in snowboard cross. The council said it asked the Korea Ski Association last year to improve its system to ensure fair national team selections. It said it has prepared revisions to its “National Team Selection and Operations Regulations” to, in principle, exclude people with a stake in the outcome from the selection process. The proposed revisions are set to be reviewed and voted on at the council’s board meeting in February. The council said it revised its “Member Sport Organization Regulations” in November to establish a basis for its guidance and oversight of sport governing bodies. It said it is also checking for possible rules violations, management accountability and needed system improvements. The council said that since Yu took office, he has consistently emphasized that “fairness is not a choice but a core value of sports.” It said it will not tolerate any conduct that undermines fairness and principles, and will work to block room for privilege or cheating and restore trust in national team selections and overall competition operations. 2026-01-28 16:12:22

Lee Jun Hyuk Cast in SBS Occult Drama 'Awakening' as an Exorcist Priest Actor Lee Jun Hyuk has confirmed his casting in SBS’ new drama “Awakening.” SBS’ “Awakening,” written by Jang Yoon Mi and directed by Oh Jun Hyuk, is an occult drama set in an exam-driven high school that has become a playground for evil spirits. An exorcist priest fights to save students. SBS, which expanded interest in Korean-style occult dramas with its 2023 series “Revenant,” is developing the new project with a goal of airing it in 2027. Lee will play Antonio, a new head priest assigned to Holy Spirit High School. Though he stirs students’ curiosity and anxiety, Antonio is an exorcist priest ordained by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Behind his detached exterior, he is portrayed as perceptive and empathetic. The character has endured terrifying situations alone and repeatedly prevailed in battles with evil spirits. Dispatched to the school to investigate, Antonio confronts a series of strange incidents and vows to risk everything to track down whoever is pulling children into a deadly race. SBS’ “Awakening” is scheduled to air in 2027.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-01-28 16:12:00

PHOTOS:Mobile game meets Korean traditional art SEOUL, January 28 (AJP) -Once confined to mobile screens, familiar characters step into the physical world — reimagined through brushstrokes, fabric and light. “CookieRun: Kingdom Art Collaboration Special Exhibition – Legacy of the Great Kingdom,” presented by Devsisters, brings the popular game’s universe into dialogue with Korean traditional crafts and interactive media art. The exhibition runs through April 12 at Ara Art Center in Insa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. CookieRun: Kingdom is a mobile role-playing game built on a fantasy narrative in which cookie characters embody distinct values and histories within a shared world. At the core of its storyline are two contrasting groups: the Ancient Cookies, who represent ideals that have been preserved over time, and the Beast Cookies, who reflect those same values when they are distorted or taken to extremes. The exhibition draws on this narrative structure to explore broader questions about choice, direction and consequence. The exhibition features 10 works created by Korean master artisans, each inspired by characters from CookieRun: Kingdom. Traditional techniques such as mother-of-pearl inlay, buncheong ceramics, embroidery and hanji are combined with contemporary character imagery, allowing long-preserved craft traditions to expand into a modern visual language. Through this process, the CookieRun characters gain added narrative depth within a cultural context. Spanning six exhibition rooms from the first floor to the fourth basement level of the Ara Art Center, the show presents pairs of Ancient Cookies and Beast Cookies in each space. These pairings explore five core values—will, history, knowledge, happiness and solidarity. Rather than depicting a simple confrontation between good and evil, the exhibition emphasizes how the same value can take on entirely different meanings depending on how it is chosen and applied. Interactive media art created in collaboration with the artist collective Nerdy Artist Union expands the meaning of the craft works throughout the space. Visitors participate using NFC-enabled wristbands that activate responses of light, sound and imagery. In the final exhibition room, hands-on content allows visitors to see characters they have drawn move through a folk-painting-inspired digital landscape, completing the exhibition’s narrative. “Legacy of the Great Kingdom” presents a moment in which characters once limited to mobile platforms are reborn through traditional crafts and media art. At the intersection of past and present, game narrative and craftsmanship, the exhibition suggests new possibilities for both cultural heritage and the expansion of intellectual property. 2026-01-28 16:06:11

Trump' tariff threat has nothing to do with Coupang, Science and ICT minister says SEOUL, January 28 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump's post on social media earlier this week about raising tariffs on South Korea has nothing to do with regulating big-tech companies including disputes over e-commerce giant Coupang, Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said on Wednesday. Shortly after Trump's abrupt threat on Monday, it was revealed that Seoul had received a letter from the U.S. about two weeks ago raising concerns over South Korea's push to regulate digital platforms. When asked by reporters about the letter he received from acting U.S. Ambassador to Seoul James Heller on Jan. 13, Bae dismissed any link to tariffs. "The letter simply requested that South Korea approach the matter of regulating digital platforms in a more reciprocal way," he said. Trump threatened to raise reciprocal tariffs on Seoul from 15 percent back to 25 percent, citing delays in the implementation of a bilateral agreement reached by the two countries in late October last year, only to soften his stance a day later, saying he would "work something out with South Korea." Some have speculated that disputes over Coupang prompted Trump's tariff threat, after several U.S. lawmakers raised concerns over "discriminatory measures" against Coupang in South Korea's investigation into a massive data leak detected late last year. In a related development, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that U.S. Vice President JD Vance, during his meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok in Washington, D.C., warned South Korea "not to target tech companies with discriminatory regulations and investigations, in the latest U.S. effort to protect American internet platforms as it threatens higher tariffs on the country." But Bae said the matter is "completely unrelated" to the tariff issue. He said South Korea has been in discussions with the U.S. through multiple channels on issues related to online platforms and artificial intelligence-related laws and regulations. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol also said, "The government is looking into Trump's latest threat through various channels to figure out the intentions behind it." 2026-01-28 15:59:29

Korea's top battery firms post losses as EV demand slump drags earnings SEOUL, January 28 (AJP) - South Korea’s three major battery makers reported losses in the fourth quarter of 2025 as a prolonged slowdown in global electric-vehicle demand weighed on shipments. SK On posted an operating loss of 441.4 billion won in the October–December period and a full-year operating loss of 931.9 billion won. LG Energy Solution also recorded an operating loss of 122 billion won in the fourth quarter, swinging to a loss from a year earlier. Samsung SDI, which is scheduled to report earnings on Feb. 2, is also expected to post weak results. A securities-firm consensus estimates Samsung SDI’s fourth-quarter operating loss at 358.5 billion won. The losses reflect an extended lull in EV demand, as global automakers scale back production plans or delay investments in new models. Reduced battery shipments have pushed down factory utilization rates, increasing the burden of fixed costs and squeezing margins. Changes to EV subsidy policies, particularly in the United States and Europe, have also weighed on demand. As a result, the battery makers are accelerating efforts to diversify beyond EVs into areas such as energy storage systems and robotics. LG Energy Solution began mass production of long-cell lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for ESS in May at its Holland, Michigan, plant. Samsung SDI continues ESS production in North America through its joint-venture facilities, while SK On plans to start ESS production in the second half of this year at its plant in Georgia. In South Korea, battery makers are also expanding production and investment to respond to government-led bidding for a centralized ESS contract market. In a recent earnings call, SK On said it aims to secure 20 gigawatt-hours of global ESS orders by 2026, primarily in North America, and plans to strengthen LFP battery production capacity to attract new customers. Robotics is also emerging as a medium- to long-term growth area. Industry officials say solid-state batteries, which could significantly improve safety and energy density, are being explored for use in next-generation devices such as humanoid robots. Samsung SDI has begun joint development of robot-specific batteries with Hyundai Motor and Kia, while LG Energy Solution is working with U.S.-based Bear Robotics to expand supplies of cylindrical batteries for robotic applications. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2026-01-28 14:46:10

Korean batteries built for cars are finding new lives — in orbit and inside humanoid robots SEOUL, January 28 (AJP) - Korean battery makers are broadening their footprint beyond electric vehicles, expanding into space and humanoid robotics as global EV demand cools and major supply contracts unravel. The industry has slowed sharply in line with stalled EV sales. SK Innovation said Wednesday its battery unit SK On recorded fourth-quarter revenue of 1.46 trillion won ($1.03 billion) with an operating loss of 441.4 billion won. For 2025, SK On posted revenue of 6.98 trillion won and an operating loss of 931.9 billion won. LG Energy Solution on the previous day reported fourth-quarter revenue of 6.14 trillion won, up 7.7 percent from the previous quarter, but swung to an operating loss of 122 billion won. For the full year, the company posted operating profit of 1.35 trillion won, up 134 percent, though revenue fell 7.6 percent to 23.67 trillion won. The downturn has been exacerbated by a string of canceled EV battery deals. By the end of last year, scrapped contracts totaled more than 17 trillion won ($11.86 billion). Ford Motor in December abandoned a 9.6 trillion won battery supply agreement with LG Energy Solution, while cathode materials maker L&F saw its Tesla contract shrink from 3.8 trillion won to just 9.73 million won — effectively a cancellation. With the EV pipeline thinning, Korean battery makers are increasingly looking beyond automobiles — and upward. The global space battery market is projected to grow from $3.99 billion in 2025 to $5.61 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of about 7 percent, according to The Business Research Company. Growth is being driven by a surge in satellite launches: more than 4,500 spacecraft reached orbit last year, roughly 60 percent more than the approximately 2,800 launches recorded in 2024, as private operators such as SpaceX and Blue Origin race to build satellite constellations. Space-grade batteries must endure some of the harshest operating conditions imaginable. Cells face temperature swings from minus 180 to 150 degrees Celsius, violent launch vibrations, vacuum pressure, intense solar radiation and decades of uninterrupted operation — with no possibility of replacement once deployed. LG Energy Solution has supplied lithium-ion cells for NASA spacesuits since 2016 and began work in 2024 on batteries for SpaceX spacecraft. Last November, it partnered with U.S. startup South 8 Technologies to develop batteries capable of operating in cryogenic conditions for lunar rovers and unmanned exploration vehicles. "The liquefied gas electrolyte technology fundamentally addresses long-standing issues of battery performance degradation in extreme cold environments," said Kim Je-young, chief technology officer of LG Energy Solution. "We anticipate this technology will unlock new possibilities for products and applications, including space." Samsung SDI has established a technical cooperation framework with CAMX Power, which holds a satellite battery supply contract with the U.S. Space Force. SK On is preparing for space-grade applications through its solid-state battery pilot plant and collaboration with U.S. developer Solid Power. Humanoid opportunity Humanoid robotics represents an even larger potential market. Morgan Stanley estimates the sector could exceed $5 trillion by 2040. Although batteries typically account for only about 0.5 percent of a humanoid robot's total cost, that still translates into a roughly $25 billion opportunity, excluding replacement batteries, maintenance and energy services. "Elon Musk has projected that humanoid robots could eventually reach annual sales of 1 billion units," said Kang Dong-jin, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities. "Assuming around 10 kilowatt-hours of battery usage per unit including spares, that implies a 10 terawatt-hour market. Battery makers can also pursue leasing, recycling and other service-based business models." With CES 2026 highlighting humanoids as key embodiments of physical AI, Korean battery firms have stepped up efforts to secure early positions. LG Energy Solution has reportedly received battery supply requests from multiple Chinese humanoid robot developers and plans to begin mass production this year. Tesla, which is developing its Optimus humanoid series, is expected to receive tens of thousands of ultra-high-nickel battery cells — with nickel content exceeding 95 percent — from LG. Samsung SDI is in supply discussions with Boston Dynamics and has partnered with cathode producer Ecopro BM, electrolyte supplier Soulbrain and separator maker W-Scope for humanoid-focused battery development. Technical requirements favor Korean manufacturers. Unlike EVs, which can accommodate large battery packs across vehicle floors, humanoids have only about 5 percent of that space — typically confined to the chest and back — making energy density paramount. Chinese battery giants CATL and BYD dominate the global EV market with a combined share of roughly 55 percent, built largely on cost-efficient lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology. But LFP cells lack the energy density required for sustained humanoid operation; industry sources say robots powered by LFP often struggle to run for even one hour. As a result, even Chinese humanoid developers are opting for higher-density alternatives. Shenzhen-based Engine AI uses solid-state batteries in some versions of its T800 robot, while Unitree Robotics deploys lithium-ion polymer batteries instead of LFP to reduce weight and improve safety. "Humanoids operate in close proximity to humans, and any malfunction could cause serious accidents, particularly in factories," Kang said. "Safety is the top priority. Since batteries account for a relatively small share of total robot costs, using high-spec batteries is actually more economical and reduces concerns over degradation." Korean battery makers have spent years refining high-nickel ternary chemistries. L&F became the first company to mass-produce ultra-high-nickel cathode materials in the second half of 2025, with Ecopro BM preparing to follow. CATL and BYD, by contrast, remain focused on LFP and mid-nickel chemistries with nickel content of about 50 to 70 percent. Ultra-high-nickel batteries paired with 46-series cylindrical cells are increasingly seen as optimal for humanoid applications, offering energy density more than 30 percent higher than standard ternary cells. U.S. robotics firms such as Figure AI, Agility Robotics and 1X Technologies are also expected to turn to Korean suppliers. Chinese manufacturers are accelerating efforts to close the gap. CATL invested last year in Beijing-based humanoid developer Galbot and has begun deploying its Xiaomo robot — developed by affiliated startup Spirit AI — on battery production lines in Henan province. In space, CATL and China Aviation Lithium Battery Technology are reportedly developing batteries for domestic satellite programs under the China National Space Administration, according to Coherent Market Insights. Their penetration into Western aerospace supply chains, however, remains limited. 2026-01-28 14:44:44