Nexon launches $162 million fund for early-stage game studios SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - Nexon is rolling out a five-year, 250 billion won ($162.2 million) investment program aimed at seeding early-stage game developers, moving to fill what it described as a widening capital gap in South Korea's domestic gaming market. The South Korean game maker said Tuesday it would channel money into studios at the seed and Series A stages, pairing large-scale private capital with government policy funds in a public-private structure designed to revive falt June 23, 2026

HD Hyundai Heavy challenges KDDX evaluation over security penalty SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has filed a formal objection to the evaluation results for South Korea’s next-generation destroyer program after losing to Hanwha Ocean by less than one point, industry sources said Monday. The company submitted the objection to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration over the bidding process for the detailed design and construction of the lead vessel under the Korean Destroyer Next Generation, or KDDX, program. HD H June 22, 2026

LG Electronics' micro LED signage wins Best of Show award at InfoComm 2026 SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - LG Electronics' micro LED signage product, LG MAGNIT, has won a Best of Show award in the installation and digital signage categories at InfoComm 2026, a display industry trade show held in Las Vegas, the company said on Monday. The company presented a range of commercial display solutions at the three-day event, which ran from June 17 under the theme "Solutions Beyond Displays." LG MAGNIT was also named "Most Innovative Digital Signage June 22, 2026

NATO looms over Canada's Korea-Germany submarine choice SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - Canada's $40 billion submarine procurement is evolving from an industrial contest into a geopolitical choice, with an upcoming NATO summit poised to give Germany an edge over South Korea by elevating alliance politics over delivery speed. South Korea's Hanwha Ocean and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, or TKMS, are entering the final stretch of the race to win a contract to deliver 12 submarines to replace Canada's aging Victoria-class fle June 22, 2026

LG's Koo making quiet strides on Nvidia AI front SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - A full AI ecosystem from data centers to robotics is what a 30-member Team LG delegation is pitching at Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California, led by Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of South Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate, who recently made headlines as the youngest of Korea's top chaebol chiefs to host an unusually casual samgyeopsal-and-soju dinner with Jensen Huang during the Nvidia chief's visit to Seoul earlier this month. The large-sca June 22, 2026

Samsung, Lotte vie for CDMO supremacy as K-bio storms BIO USA SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - South Korean chips are not the only hot-selling commodities in the United States. Biopharmaceutical heavyweights have descended on the Pacific coast city of San Diego, turning the world's largest biotech gathering into a proving ground for the country's fast-expanding contract manufacturing ambitions. The 2026 BIO International Convention, known as BIO USA, runs from Monday through Thursday at the San Diego Convention Center under the theme "Dr June 22, 2026

Hanwha Aerospace earns highly stable credit rating from S&P SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - Hanwha Aerospace has received an A- credit rating from S&P Global Ratings, making it the first South Korean defense and aerospace company to reach that level. An A- rating generally indicates a high level of financial stability and reliability and is held by major global defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. Hanwha Aerospace expects the rating to help bolster its credibility and competitiveness in overseas bids by puttin June 22, 2026

Kakao Games names co-CEOs as LY takeover takes hold SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - Kakao Games installed a co-chief executive structure, appointing Line Games veteran Kim Tae-hwan and company insider Lee Si-woo to steer the games publisher into a new chapter under its Japanese backer. The appointments, ratified at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, south of Seoul, follow the firm's acquisition by a special purpose vehicle funded by LY, or Line Yahoo, the operator of the Line messenger. Kim spe June 22, 2026

AI hiring spreads across South Korean industries SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - Job postings seeking artificial intelligence skills in South Korea have surged about 70 percent so far this year, a sign that demand for AI talent is spilling well beyond the technology sector into nearly every corner of the economy, according to recruitment platform Jobkorea. About 15,000 postings carrying the keyword "AI" were registered between January and May, a record high and seven times the 10 percent growth in overall job listings during the June 22, 2026

Samsung Electronics to supply HVAC systems for premium housing project in India SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics will supply air conditioning systems for a premium residential complex in India, as the company seeks to expand its HVAC business beyond commercial buildings into the residential market, the company said on Monday. The South Korean tech giant said it has partnered with Indian real estate developer Central Park to install more than 3,000 units of its residential air conditioning systems across 300 households at "The Orchard," a r June 22, 2026