Industry

  • Korean firms post strong sales growth in North America despite US tariffs
    Korean firms post strong sales growth in North America despite US tariffs SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - Major South Korean companies recorded double-digit growth in North American sales last year despite higher U.S. tariffs, with technology and power equipment firms leading gains, according to corporate data released on Monday. North American revenue at 67 South Korean companies that separately disclose sales results in the region, along with 194 subsidiaries, reached 343.8 trillion won as of the third quarter of last year, up 14.1 percent from 301.2 t February 10, 2026
  • LG Display accelerates shift to OLED with sale of LCD business in Nanjing, China
    LG Display accelerates shift to OLED with sale of LCD business in Nanjing, China SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - LG Display said on Monday it will sell its automotive liquid crystal display (LCD) module business in Nanjing, China, as the company accelerates its transition toward higher-margin organic light-emitting diode (OLED) segment. In a regulatory filing, the company said it signed a contract to sell the business to the Nanjing unit of Toprun Total Solution for 491.5 million yuan ($68 million), with the transaction scheduled to close on July 30. LG Displa February 10, 2026
  • Hyosung Heavy wins $538 million power equipment deal in US
    Hyosung Heavy wins $538 million power equipment deal in US SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - South Korea's Hyosung Heavy Industries said on Monday it had secured its largest order to date in the United States. The company signed a contract worth about 787 billion won ($538 million) with a major U.S. transmission grid operator to supply 765-kilovolt ultra-high-voltage transformers, reactors and related equipment. It described the deal as the largest single U.S. project ever won by a South Korean power-equipment manufacturer. Hyosung Heav February 10, 2026
  • SK and Nvidia chiefs hold AI talks over chicken and beer in Santa Clara
    SK and Nvidia chiefs hold AI talks over chicken and beer in Santa Clara SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group missing from the famous chicken-beer meeting in Seoul among key Korean tycoons during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's visit to South Korea last October, had a separate chimaek moment with Huang in Silicon Valley as SK hynix vies with Samsung Electronics for next-generation memory packages to Nvidia's AI accelerators. According to industry officials on Monday, Chey met Huang on Feb. 5 (local time) at a Korean-style frie February 10, 2026
  • South Korea inks fighter jet maintenance deal with Philippines
    South Korea inks fighter jet maintenance deal with Philippines SEOUL, February 9 (AJP) - South Korea has signed a deal with the Philippines to provide support and maintenance services for fighter jets, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said on Monday. Under the performance-based logistics (PBL) deal, worth about 101.4 billion Korean won (about US$70 million), which runs through 2028, KAI will provide maintenance and logistics support for its FA-50 fighter jets supplied to the Philippines. The three-year deal comes as an initial one-year pil February 9, 2026
  • Korea targets $109B Middle East arms market amid aggressive budgeting
    Korea targets $109B Middle East arms market amid aggressive budgeting SEOUL, February 09 (AJP) - With hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into Middle Eastern rearmament, South Korea’s defense industry is moving aggressively to claim its share—using a major arms fair in Riyadh as the gateway to a $109 billion market. The coordinated push is centered on the World Defense Show (WDS), running from Feb. 8 to 12 in the Saudi capital. The event is the region’s largest integrated defense exhibition and a key platform for securing long-te February 9, 2026
  • Korea joins global AI bet, tripling spending in 2026
    Korea joins global AI bet, tripling spending in 2026 SEOUL, February 09 (AJP) - The bill for artificial intelligence is stretching at a staggering pace, and South Korea is joining the race by tripling government spending on AI to 10.1 trillion won ($6.9 billion) this year. Even so, Seoul's commitment is a small splash in a rapidly deepening global pool. Big Tech alone is poised to pour roughly $650 billion into AI-related capital expenditure in 2026. Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft plan between $635 billion and $665 billio February 9, 2026
  • Samsung Elec gets head start in HBM4 race, SK hynix plays it cool
    Samsung Elec gets head start in HBM4 race, SK hynix plays it cool SEOUL, February 09 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics has moved a step ahead in the race to commercialize next-generation high-bandwidth memory, shipping early samples of its HBM4 chips and preparing for mass supply, according to industry sources. In the sixth-generation memory standard expected to power future artificial intelligence accelerators from Nvidia and Google, Samsung appears to have gained an early edge over local rival SK hynix, which currently dominates the HBM market. A February 9, 2026
  • Hundreds of fat cats at major businesses to face axe in 1st half
    Hundreds of fat cats at major businesses to face axe in 1st half SEOUL, February 9 (AJP) - Nearly half of outside directors at major businesses in South Korea will see their terms expire in the first half of this year, a study shows. Corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute surveyed the country's 50 largest companies and found they had around 1,235 outside directors as of this month. Of them, 543 or 44 percent are scheduled to have their terms end in the first half of this year. Among conglomerates, SK Group had the most with 85, followed February 9, 2026
  • South Korea, U.S. air forces hold first Buddy Squadron exercise of the year
    South Korea, U.S. air forces hold first Buddy Squadron exercise of the year SEOUL, February 09 (AJP) - The South Korean Air Force and the U.S. Air Force on Monday began their first Buddy Squadron exercise of the year, which runs through Friday, at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province. The Buddy Squadron exercise is a squadron-level combined air drill in which South Korean and U.S. fighter units take turns training together at air bases across the country. The exercise began in 1991 under the name “Friendship Training” to enhance combined operat February 9, 2026