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Harman completes $350m acquisition of Massimo's Sound United
Harman International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, said Wednesday it has completed the $350 million purchase of Sound United, the audio business of US medical device maker Masimo. The deal brings a portfolio of premium brands including Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio and Definitive Technology under Harman. The unit will operate as a stand-alone business within Harman's lifestyle division, preserving the brands' heritage while leveraging Samsung's scale, the company said. Har
Sept. 24, 2025 -
Samsung rallies on AI chip boom, brokerages lift outlooks
Samsung Electronics briefly climbed above the 90,000-won mark in premarket trading on Tuesday, buoyed by optimism over its high-bandwidth memory chips and upbeat broker forecasts. According to Nextrade, the stock rose as high as 91,000 won ($65) during premarket hours. Samsung closed at 84,700 won on the Korea Exchange on Tuesday, up 1.44 percent from the previous close. The rally followed reports that Samsung’s fifth-generation, 12-layer HBM3E chips had passed Nvidia’s quality tests just 18 mon
Sept. 23, 2025 -
KakaoTalk gets biggest upgrade yet with ChatGPT
Kakao is bringing OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot ChatGPT directly into KakaoTalk, its flagship messenger application, in a move that marks one of the most significant upgrades in the app’s history. The integration, unveiled Tuesday, is part of Kakao’s broader push to turn KakaoTalk into a multifunctional "super app" powered by AI. “Starting in October, ChatGPT will be accessible within the KakaoTalk chat tab. This marks a pivotal moment in embedding globally recognized AI capabilities into a pla
Sept. 23, 2025 -
KakaoTalk to revamp with ChatGPT, Instagram-style feed
Kakao Corp. is set to revamp KakaoTalk, its flagship mobile messenger that dominates South Korea's market, into a feed-based social hub and a short-form video platform, powered by artificial intelligence. While questions remain over how users across age groups will respond, attention is on whether Kakao can regain ground with the update, anchored by its new in-house AI model, after missing the government's shortlist for a national large language model project. The IT giant is also under pressure
Sept. 22, 2025 -
PM to hold meeting over Lotte Card, KT data breach this week
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok will hold an interagency meeting this week to discuss government response measures following major data breaches at Lotte Card Co. and KT Corp., his office said Sunday. In the meeting scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday, Kim is expected to be briefed on the scope of damage and review whether necessary measures were taken by the affected companies, according to his office. An estimated 200 gigabytes of personal data of nearly 3 million customers of Lotte Card, the country'
Sept. 21, 2025 -
KT cyber breach deepens as victim tally climbs
Korea’s telecom carrier KT Corp. is facing mounting criticism after the scale of a recent mobile micro-payment breach ballooned, with hundreds of victims and rising losses revealed Sunday in fresh data from parliament. The incidents, initially thought to be confined to pockets of southwestern Seoul, have spread across multiple districts and neighboring provinces, raising questions about the telecom giant’s disclosure and response. Between Aug. 5 and 8, 15 people in Seoul's Dongjak-gu, Gwanak-gu
Sept. 21, 2025 -
LG launches AI financial agent with London bourse operator
The artificial intelligence lab under LG Group launched an advanced financial agent last week in partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group, capable of generating high-quality financial reports without human intervention, the research center said Sunday. LG AI Research and the LSEG held a kick-off ceremony in London on Friday for EXAONE Business Intelligence, which is capable of integrating and processing massive amounts of data to make market forecasts. "While other financial AI services
Sept. 21, 2025 -
KT says mobile payment breach victims now at 362, total damage climbs to 240 mln won
KT Corp. said Thursday the number of victims of a recent mobile payment breach has reached 362, with total damage estimated at 240 million won ($173,000). South Korea's No. 2 mobile carrier, which recently reported a series of unauthorized mobile payments following a suspected data leak, had initially reported 278 victims. "Of the 362 victims, we have completed correcting bills for 278. We will finalize refunds for the remaining 84 customers as well," Kim Young-geol, chief of KT's service produc
Sept. 18, 2025 -
SK Networks unveils AI bets, sovereign strategy
SK Networks said Thursday it had hosted the SK Networks AI Wave 2025 event at Walkerhill Hotels & Resorts in eastern Seoul on Wednesday, unveiling its artificial intelligence investment portfolio and holding discussions on the future of the industry and sovereign AI. Launched in 2023, AI Wave is organized by SK Networks to provide a platform where AI startups present their visions and connect with investors. The second edition of the event was supported by Hacker Fellowship Zero, a Silicon Valle
Sept. 18, 2025 -
Chaebol groups unveil massive hiring plans to boost youth jobs, future growth
South Korea’s largest conglomerates on Thursday announced extensive hiring plans, aiming to secure talent for future growth businesses while expanding youth employment. The moves come after President Lee Jae Myung urged companies this week to help address the country's weakening youth job market. Samsung Electronics, the country's largest conglomerate by revenue, unveiled that the company and its affiliates will hire 60,000 people over the next five years, constituting one of South Korea's large
Sept. 18, 2025 -
LG, SK team up to develop cooling systems for AI data centers
LG Electronics said Thursday it has signed an agreement with SK Innovation to jointly develop and commercialize integrated energy and cooling solutions for artificial intelligence data centers, aiming to expand in the fast-growing market. The companies plan to combine their strengths in cooling and energy management to reduce the high levels of power consumption and heat generation that come with large-scale AI computing, LG said. The home appliance giant will supply high-efficiency cooling equi
Sept. 18, 2025 -
Why more chaebol heirs are choosing longer military service, including Samsung chair’s son
In South Korea, most young men try to finish their mandatory military service as quickly as possible. But a growing number of chaebol heirs, the sons of the country’s powerful family-run conglomerates, are taking the opposite path. The latest example is Lee Jee-ho, the 24-year-old eldest son of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Jae-yong. On Monday, Lee entered the Republic of Korea Naval Academy as an officer candidate, beginning 39 months of military service. That's nearly twice as long as the typical
Sept. 17, 2025 -
Korea eyes AI future, but classrooms struggle to prepare generation meant to lead
South Korea wants to be a world leader in artificial intelligence, but its schools are grappling to prepare the next generation amid confusion concerning what should be taught and, naturally, a lack of qualified faculty to do just that. In 2022, the Education Ministry announced that coding would become a mandatory subject in middle schools from 2025 and in elementary schools from 2026. The plan was part of a national drive to expand AI talent and prepare the next generation for a digital future.
Sept. 17, 2025 -
US tariff talks tough, but Korea seeking balance: industry minister
SEJONG — Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Tuesday that South Korea was pushing to secure a win-win deal as negotiations with the United States over a $350 billion tariff pact remain in flux. At a press briefing, Kim rejected the view that Seoul’s pledge to invest $350 billion in the US — in return for Washington lowering “reciprocal” tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent — amounts to a one-sided deal. “Some people think the US will take all of the $350 billion, but that is not the structure,
Sept. 17, 2025 -
Can company-run graduate schools fuel Korea’s tech ambitions?
When Shin Dong-hwa, a senior researcher at LG Energy Solution, began classes at LG AI Research's new graduate school, his focus was not on an abstract thesis but on a stubborn challenge from his lab: how to use artificial intelligence to accelerate cathode material design at the atomic level. “In the workplace, I rarely had the chance to study theory and mostly focused on applying pre-built models," said Shin, who graduated from the program this February. "Through the master’s program, I was fin
Sept. 16, 2025