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 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

Report: Nvidia's autonomus driving platform Alpamayo to reshape global ecosystem SEOUL, February 09 (AJP) - South Korea's top automotive research body suggests that a new open-source platform from Nvidia could be the "breakthrough" needed for an industry currently paralyzed by ballooning costs and technical gridlock. According to a report released February 9 by the South Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH), the Alpamayo platform aims to solve the "black box" problem of modern artificial intelligence by teaching cars to explain t February 9, 2026

Samsung Elec on track roll out HBM4 chips this month SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics is set to begin mass shipments of the the sixth generation high bandwidth memory chips dubbed HBM4 later this month, according to industry sources Sunday. The chips will be rolled out from the third week of February after the Lunar New Year holiday break, thrusting the HBM laggard into the front tier as HMB4 is expected to become the standard from next-generation AI chips. The shipment schedule has been finalized to align with the February 8, 2026

LGES buys battery JV in Canada as Ottawa weighs industrial offsets in submarine bid SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) -LG Energy Solution (LGES) has agreed to acquire its partner’s entire stake in a major Canadian battery plant for a symbolic $100, underscoring how slowing electric vehicle demand, shifting industrial policy and geopolitics are reshaping North America’s manufacturing landscape. In a regulatory filing on Friday, the South Korean battery maker said it would purchase the 49 percent stake held by Stellantis in their joint venture, NextStar Energy Inc February 8, 2026

Auto capacity looms over Korea–Germany race for Canada's $41bn submarine project SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - Auto-sector capacity — and Ottawa’s efforts to shield its car industry from U.S. tariffs — is emerging as a decisive variable in the two-horse race between South Korea and Germany for Canada’s Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), sources said after meetings this week with visiting Canadian officials. “Both South Korea and Germany are automotive manufacturing nations,” said Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s special envoy February 6, 2026

Hanwha Ocean to build Korea's largest wind turbine installation vessel SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - Hanwha Ocean said on Friday it had secured a 768.7 billion won ($530 million) order to build a wind turbine installation vessel from affiliate Ocean Wind Power 1. Delivery of the vessel is scheduled for the first half of 2028. The company said deployment will initially be considered for domestic offshore wind projects. According to Hanwha Ocean, the vessel will be the first in South Korea capable of installing 15-megawatt-class offshore wind turbine February 6, 2026

SK Biopharm posts record profit on strong US sales of epilepsy drug SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - SK Biopharmaceuticals said on Friday that its operating profit more than doubled last year to a record high, driven by strong U.S. sales of its epilepsy drug cenobamate. The drugmaker reported consolidated operating profit of 203.9 billion won for the year, up about 112 percent from a year earlier. Revenue rose 29.1 percent to 706.7 billion won, while net profit increased 11.6 percent to 253.3 billion won. Cenobamate, marketed in the United States u February 6, 2026

Korea's record C/A surplus pales by near-tripling capital outflows SEOUL, Feb. 06 (AJP) -The black figure in South Korea’s current account stretched to a monthly high in December and an annual high for 2025 thanks to red-hot chip sales, but the bulk of the gains went to defending the Korean currency against rapid depreciation and funding outbound investments, data showed. According to data released by the Bank of Korea on Friday, the current account in December recorded a surplus of $18.7 billion, an increase of more than $6 billion from t February 6, 2026

HD Hyundai Marine Solution wins power plant maintenance deal in Ecuador SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - South Korea's HD Hyundai Marine Solution has signed a $56 million maintenance contract with Ecuador’s state power utility to support operations at thermal power plants amid the country’s ongoing energy shortages. Under the agreement, the company will supply engine and auxiliary equipment maintenance packages through early 2027 for eight thermal power plants operated by the utility, with combined generation capacity of about 400 megawatt February 6, 2026