Korean Inc. leaders seeking large-scale trip to China in January SEOUL, December 23 (AJP) -South Korea’s leading business leaders are seeking to visit China early next year as part of a large-scale economic delegation, a move that could coincide with a summit under discussion between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to sources closed to the matter Monday. The delegation, expected to include Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Myung Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun December 23, 2025

Lee Jae-yong reviews next-generation chip technologies at Samsung R&D and manufacturing hubs SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the company's Giheung and Hwaseong semiconductor campuses on Monday to review research progress and manufacturing readiness for upcoming memory and system semiconductor technologies. Lee toured the NRD-K complex in Giheung, Samsung's advanced R&D hub dedicated to next-generation memory, foundry and system semiconductor development. The facility focuses on overcoming scaling limits in cutting-e December 22, 2025

Samsung HBM4 scores well with Nvidia, unnerving memory end users amid tight supply SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics is poised to share next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) orders for Nvidia’s upcoming Rubin artificial-intelligence accelerator with SK hynix, after earning strong evaluations in final sample testing by Nvidia, people familiar with the matter said. Samsung is said to have received one of the most favorable assessments in early system-in-package (SiP) validation for its HBM4, marking a sharp turnaround from earlier hurdles December 22, 2025

As won hovers at crisis-era levels, Seoul feels like the world's most expensive city SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - Headline inflation in South Korea remains anchored around the mid-2 percent range, but many households say daily life feels increasingly unaffordable, as a weak won erodes purchasing power and amplifies price pressures across imported goods. Seoul now "feels like the most expensive city in the world," ahead of Tokyo and London, according to a recent British Time Out survey that asked residents in 100 global cities to assess their cost of living. December 22, 2025

Hankook Tire's Hungarian plant donates tires to local community SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - Hankook Tire & Technology said on Monday that its Hungary plant has donated 28,000 tires to local government bodies as well as nonprofit and charitable organizations under a corporate social responsibility initiative launched in 2012. The tire firm said said the initiative reflects the environmental, social and governance (ESG) management philosophy of the company and supports sustainable development in the Hungarian community. This year, the pl December 22, 2025

South Korea's Mirae Industries signs $7.5 million chip equipment supply deal SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - Mirae Industries, a South Korean manufacturer of semiconductor back-end process equipment, said on Monday it has signed an additional supply contract worth $7.5 million with Unimos Micro Electronics for semiconductor inspection equipment. In a regulatory filing, the company said the contract is equivalent to 37.7 percent of its 27 billion won in revenue recorded last year. Mirae Industries said the latest order reflects the results of its efforts December 22, 2025

Korean Air, Asiana face fines for breaching merger conditions on seat supply SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - South Korea’s antitrust regulator said on Monday it will impose penalties totaling 6.5 billion won ($5 million) on Korean Air and Asiana Airlines for violating merger-approval conditions that restrict sharp reductions in seat supply. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it will fine Korean Air 5.88 billion won and Asiana 580 million won for breaching a corrective order that bars the airlines from cutting annual seat supply to below 90 percent of December 22, 2025

South Korea's strategic oil reserves hit 100 million barrels SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - South Korea's strategic oil reserves have surpassed 100 million barrels for the first time, the government said on Monday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the final oil tanker carrying this year’s stockpiled crude arrived at the Korea National Oil Corp.’s storage base in Geoje, bringing state-held reserves to 100 million barrels. Privately held oil stockpiles stood at about 95 million barrels as of October. Combined p December 22, 2025

Korean sets record 20-day exports Dec, chips make up a third of total exports SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) -South Korea posted a record for first 20-day monthly exports in December, driven by a 42-percent jump in chip shipments that now account for nearly a third of total exports, customs-cleared preliminary data showed Monday. According to the Korea Customs Service, exports for Dec. 1–20 climbed 6.8 percent from a year earlier to US$43.03 billion, marking a fresh record for the first 20-day period. Average daily exports, adjusted for working days, December 22, 2025

Hyosung Heavy wins European power equipment orders worth $170 million SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) - South Korea's Hyosung Heavy Industries has secured a series of new orders for extra-high-voltage power equipment across Europe. The company said on Monday it won contracts worth more than 230 billion won ($170 million) this month in key European markets including the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain, citing rising investment in power grids as countries accelerate energy transitions. In the United Kingdom, Hyosung Heavy Industries recently signed December 22, 2025