Industry

  • With too many skeletons out of the closet, Coupang founder Kim may have to come out
    With too many skeletons out of the closet, Coupang founder Kim may have to come out SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - Coupang earns roughly 90 percent of its estimated $34 billion in revenue from Korea, yet operates and trades as a U.S.-based company often dubbed "Korea's Amazon." Increasingly, however, it resembles something closer to a Chinese tech firm—with opaque recruiting practices and oversight failures that culminated in the mass-scale data leak exposing virtually all of its online shoppers. For negligence and liability related to the loss of December 4, 2025
  • South Koreas Kolon Industries joins hands with Canadian firm for fuel cell business
    South Korea's Kolon Industries joins hands with Canadian firm for fuel cell business SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - Kolon Industries said Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada’s Ballard Power Systems to expand cooperation in hydrogen fuel cell components, strengthening its push into the clean-energy sector. The agreement was signed at the World Hydrogen 2025 event held at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Ballard, founded in 1979, is a major global supplier of high-efficiency, durable hydrogen fuel cell technology used in buses December 4, 2025
  • SK hynix unveils major reorganization to bolster HBM, AI-era memory leadership
    SK hynix unveils major reorganization to bolster HBM, AI-era memory leadership SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - SK hynix said Thursday it has created a dedicated high-bandwidth memory (HBM) unit to provide faster technical support and bolster market responsiveness in North America. It also established a new team responsible for HBM packaging, quality and yield management across development and mass production. The move is aimed at reinforcing its position in the global AI era and ensure sustainable growth, the company said. The company also plans to esta December 4, 2025
  • South Koreas union membership rises to 2.77 million
    South Korea's union membership rises to 2.77 million SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - South Korea’s trade union membership increased to 2.77 million at the end of last year, up by about 40,000 from a year earlier, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said on Thursday. The national unionization rate held steady at 13 percent as the pool of eligible workers continued to expand. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) remained the country’s largest labor umbrella group with 1.2 million members, accounting for 43.3 perce December 4, 2025
  • Shinhan Financial Chairman Jin Ok-dong poised for extended term
    Shinhan Financial Chairman Jin Ok-dong poised for extended term SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong is set to secure a second three-year term after delivering consecutive record earnings since taking office in March 2023. On Thursday, the group’s chairman nomination committee named Jin as its final candidate for the next chairman, following interviews with him and other shortlisted contenders, including Shinhan Bank President Jeong Sang-hyeok and Shinhan Investment Corp. CEO Lee Sun-hoon. The comm December 4, 2025
  • OpenAI Korea targets enterprise market as ChatGPT usage soars
    OpenAI Korea targets enterprise market as ChatGPT usage soars SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - OpenAI Korea CEO Kim Kyung-hoon said the company aims to become the best partner for South Korean businesses transitioning to artificial intelligence, highlighting the rapid expansion of ChatGPT’s global footprint. Kim made the remarks Thursday at his first press conference since taking office in September. Kim said that daily message volume has jumped from 450 million in June last year to 2.63 billion this June, making AI “a part of everyd December 4, 2025
  • Samsung teases new flagship chip for Galaxy S26 series
    Samsung teases new flagship chip for Galaxy S26 series SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled its upcoming mobile application processor, Exynos 2600, with a 30-second teaser video posted on its official YouTube channel. The Exynos 2600 is slated to power the next-generation Galaxy S26 series. The chip is reportedly the company’s first to be built with a cutting-edge 2-nanometer process. The teaser opens with the words, “In silence, we listened,” followed by promises that the new ch December 4, 2025
  • K-beauty brand Ongredients gains traction at home and abroad on strong skin-barrier lineup
    K-beauty brand O'ngredients gains traction at home and abroad on strong skin-barrier lineup SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - South Korean skincare brand O’ngredients is gaining momentum both domestically and overseas, backed by strong sales of its skin-barrier products and rising visibility on global e-commerce platforms. According to industry data, O’ngredients’ Skin Barrier Calming Lotion has surpassed cumulative sales of 3 million units in South Korea as of July 2025 and ranked first overall on CJ Olive Young’s online store in December 2024. The prod December 4, 2025
  • POSCO Future M to work with US firm to co-develop solid-state battery materials
    POSCO Future M to work with US firm to co-develop solid-state battery materials SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - POSCO's battery-materials unit, POSCO Future M, has signed a partnership with U.S.-based Factorial Energy to co-develop next-generation solid-state battery materials, the South Korean company said Thursday. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on Nov. 25 on the sidelines of the Future Battery Forum in Berlin. Factorial Energy selected POSCO Future M as a partner after testing cathode samples from multiple global suppliers and determi December 4, 2025
  • Retroactive US tariff cuts remove uncertainty for Korean exporters
    Retroactive US tariff cuts remove uncertainty for Korean exporters SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - The United States has retroactively reduced tariffs on South Korean automobiles to 15 percent effective Nov. 1, following recent trade negotiations, South Korea’s government said Thursday. The two countries are working to ease related customs procedures for exporters, it added. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a pre-release of the Federal Register on Dec. 3, with formal publication schedule December 4, 2025