• 
  AJP Watch: Samsung still unpatched as CEO and union plea exposes internal strife SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) -Samsung Electronics may have pulled back from the brink of an unprecedented general strike with a dramatic last-minute wage agreement, but the company is not yet out of trouble as internal divisions continue to simmer over a bonus structure that many employees say has shattered the sense of balance inside South Korea’s biggest company. The tentative 2026 wage agreement, reached late Wednesday after marathon negotiations involving the labor ministry, still May 21, 2026
• 
  CJ Olive Young to open first US store in Pasadena next week SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) - CJ Olive Young is set to open its first U.S. store next week, tapping into the world's largest beauty market. Located on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena's main shopping district in California, the store is scheduled to open on May 29, along with the launch of its U.S.-only online mall. The South Korean version of America's multi-brand beauty retailer Sephora will carry more than 5,000 beauty products from about 400 health and cosmetics brand May 21, 2026
• 
  AJP Focus: Samsung strike on hold, but shareholders see a new battle beginning SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) - The chip lines at Samsung Electronics ran uninterrupted Thursday morning. What had been dreaded as the opening day of an unprecedented 18-day walkout instead turned into relief rally on the market after labor and management reached a last-minute settlement shortly before midnight. Samsung shares surged as much as 7 percent during trading and closed at a fresh record high as markets priced out the immediate risk of production disruption at the world’s May 21, 2026
• 
  HD Korea Shipbuilding wins $1.2 bln order for 6 ammonia carriers SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) - HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering said Thursday it has signed a contract with a European shipowner to build six very large ammonia carriers. The deal is worth 1.08 trillion won ($1.2 billion), the intermediate shipbuilding holding company of HD Hyundai said in a regulatory filing. The vessels will be built by HD Hyundai Samho and delivered by the second half of 2029. With the latest order, HD Korea Shipbuilding has secured orders for 104 ve May 21, 2026
• 
  Hanwha Qcells to supply modules for South Korea's largest solar project SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) - Hanwha Solutions' Qcells division announced it will supply high-efficiency solar cells and modules for a 400-megawatt solar power project being developed by Korea South-East Power (KOSEP), the largest solar installation ever built on a single site in South Korea. The plant, set to rise across about 4.63 square kilometers of land in Haenam County, South Jeolla Province, is scheduled for completion in June 2028. KOSEP selected a preferred EPC (engineering, pr May 21, 2026
• 
  South Korea happy to stay the laggard in self-driving race in Asia SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) - The self-driving race on Asian roads is heating up, but South Korea is in no hurry as it bets safety-first approach will take it farther at the end of the day. China is rapidly scaling up commercial robotaxi fleets while Japan has unlocked Level 4 services on public roads. Modest in comparison, Hyundai Motor Group is launching a citywide testbed in Gwangju to close the gap with overseas rivals. Speaking to reporters last week at the group’s headquart May 21, 2026
• 
  AJP Focus: Samsung's bonus war and the price of AI prosperity "Money often costs too much." Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that line in the 19th century, but it reads today almost like a warning for the age of artificial intelligence. The real cost of the AI boom is no longer measured only in capital expenditures, GPU prices or trillion-dollar market valuations. It is increasingly measured in resentment, polarization, labor conflict and the quiet erosion of social cohesion — socially, politically, psychologically. South May 21, 2026
• 
  Subnautica 2 sells 4 million copies in five days after early access launch SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) - Subnautica 2, the underwater survival sequel developed by Krafton's creative studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment, has sold about 4 million copies worldwide within five days of its early access release on May 15. The title, built on Unreal Engine 5 and set on a new alien ocean planet, logged 1 million sales at launch before surging past 2 million within the first 12 hours. Peak concurrent players on Steam reached about 467,000, while average daily active use May 21, 2026
• 
  AJP Watch: Samsung closes pay gap with SK hynix in landmark semiconductor labor accord SEOUL, May 21 (AJP) -Samsung Electronics employees in its memory-chip division could receive performance bonuses of up to 600 million won ($440,000) this year under a landmark labor agreement that mirrors — and in some cases surpasses — rival SK hynix’s uncapped AI-era reward system that has transformed compensation expectations across Korea’s semiconductor industry. The provisional wage deal reached late Wednesday ties Samsung’s new special semiconduct May 21, 2026
• 
  Samsung Live: Strike suspended, union puts the agreement to vote until May 27 SUWON, May 20 (AJP) -Samsung Electronics narrowly avoided a closely watched 18-day general strike late Wednesday after marathon last-minute negotiations led by Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon produced a tentative wage agreement between management and the company’s largest labor union. The deal halted what could have become the biggest labor disruption in the history of the world’s largest memory chipmaker, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of the global DRAM market and May 20, 2026