Industry

  • OPINION: How data, engineers and state power drive Chinas tech rise
    OPINION: How data, engineers and state power drive China's tech rise Views of China tend to split neatly into two camps. One dismisses it as a country of imitators. The other fears it as an unstoppable technological juggernaut powered by a vast market and a disciplined state. Both views miss the same point. China’s defining advantage is scale. In a country of 1.4 billion people, even meaningful technological progress can appear underwhelming when measured per capita. But scale has a way of turning incremental gains into structural power. What looks modest January 23, 2026
  • Stocks at record highs, growth at 1%: Koreas market–economy divide widens
    Stocks at record highs, growth at 1%: Korea's market–economy divide widens SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) -Korean stock market pushed deeper into uncharted territory Thursday, with the KOSPI briefly climbing over the 5,000 mark before closing just below the milestone, a historic high unfolding even as economic growth remains stuck near 1 percent, highlighting a widening gap between buoyant asset prices and a fragile real economy. The growth outlook marks the weakest performance since the economy contracted 0.7 percent in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and t January 22, 2026
  • EXCLUSIVE: Korea–India summit under discussion - Indias envoy to Seoul
    EXCLUSIVE: Korea–India summit under discussion - India's envoy to Seoul SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - India may be the next state-visit destination for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, as Seoul looks to build on its back-to-back trips to China and Japan in 2026 by turning a "Special Strategic Partnership" — long cited but not fully realized for more than a decade — into a concrete industrial alliance with the world's most populous country, growing at a pace of more than 7 percent, across shipbuilding, semiconductors, artificial intelligen January 22, 2026
  • Hanwha Ocean wins $550 million orders for 2 LNG carriers
    Hanwha Ocean wins $550 million orders for 2 LNG carriers SEOUL, January 21 (AJP) - Hanwha Ocean has secured new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier orders, adding to a solid start to the year as the South Korean shipbuilder focuses on high-value vessels. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the company said it signed shipbuilding contracts for two LNG carriers with a total value of 738.3 billion won ($550 million). The vessels will be delivered sequentially, though no timetable was disclosed. Including the latest contracts, Hanwha Ocean’s year January 21, 2026
  • KOSPI catches its breath after two-week rally
    KOSPI catches its breath after two-week rally SEOUL, January 20 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI pulled back on Tuesday, ending its year-opening rally, as selling pressure in major technology and auto shares outweighed gains in select growth and thematic stocks. The index fell 0.4 percent to close at 4,885.8, snapping a 13-session winning streak that included a series of record highs. Despite the pullback, it briefly climbed to an intraday high of 4,935.48, extending its run of fresh peaks before momentum faded in later trading. January 20, 2026
  • HD Korea Shipbuilding secures $350 million in new vessel orders
    HD Korea Shipbuilding secures $350 million in new vessel orders SEOUL, January 20 (AJP) - HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore, the shipbuilding arm of HD Hyundai, said on Tuesday it has secured orders for crude oil tankers and petrochemical product carriers, extending a strong start to the year. The company said it signed contracts to build two crude oil tankers and two petrochemical product carriers, or PC carriers, with a combined value of 481.6 billion won ($350 million). The vessels will be constructed at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and delivered in st January 20, 2026
  • U.S. makes clear Taiwan chip tariff deal will not apply to South Korea
    U.S. makes clear Taiwan chip tariff deal will not apply to South Korea SEOUL, January 17 (AJP) - Washington has made clear that semiconductor tariffs and related exemptions will be set through country‑by‑country negotiations, meaning the criteria agreed with Taiwan will not be copied and applied automatically to South Korea. An administration official said on Friday that the U.S. would pursue "separate agreements for separate countries" when asked whether the semiconductor tariff waiver terms offered to Taiwan would also be granted to South Korea. This January 17, 2026
  • U.S. TSMC deal signals more deal-making for Seoul and pledges from chipmakers
    U.S. TSMC deal signals more deal-making for Seoul and pledges from chipmakers SEOUL, January 16 (AJP) - In the tariff deal Seoul and Washington signed last October, South Korea was promised it would not be treated less favorably than Taiwan. But Taiwan’s newly secured tariff exemptions tied to expanded U.S. investment are now forcing Seoul and Korean chipmakers back to the negotiating table with fresh offers. Taiwan’s tariff outcome has been closely watched in Seoul, given the scale of its semiconductor trade with the United States. In last year’s negot January 16, 2026
  • Korean memory makers share boom year with employees in cash and stock rewards
    Korean memory makers share boom year with employees in cash and stock rewards SEOUL, January 16 (AJP) -South Korea’s two largest memory chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are rolling out handsome cash and stock rewards for their employees amid red-hot earnings and extended stock rally. Samsung Electronics said its Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees the company’s semiconductor operations, has set its excess profit incentive (OPI) at 47 percent of annual salary, according to an internal notice circulated this week. The rate applies across January 16, 2026
  • S. Korea leans on semiconductors as non-IT exports lose ground: BOK
    S. Korea leans on semiconductors as non-IT exports lose ground: BOK SEOUL, January 16 (AJP) - South Korea’s exports remain resilient, but the country is steadily losing ground in global competitiveness in some sectors, according to a report released Friday by the Bank of Korea. While headline export figures have held up, shipments of major non-IT goods — excluding semiconductors — have been largely stagnant for years, deepening performance gaps across industries. South Korea’s share of the global export market has been on a downward tra January 16, 2026