Korean battery maker Samsung SDI’s chief executive stressed the importance of safety Monday, amid growing demand for secondary batteries powering electric vehicles and diverse digital devices.“We should establish a corporate culture that puts safety first,” Samsung SDI chief executive officer Cho Nam-seong said during the New Year’s kickoff meeting at its research complex located in Suwon.Samsung SDI CEO Cho Nam-seong (Samsung SDI)The battery maker plans to improve product safety technologies by

Smart home appliances and advanced autonomous driving will take center stage at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s biggest technology showcase, which kicks off in Las Vegas on Thursday.Korean tech firms Samsung and LG will unveil their smart home technologies, which have been a popular theme at the show for the last few years. Smart home is an environment where home appliances and electronics are all connected so users can control them from anywhere. Samsung is expected to unveil an

The independent counsel team investigating the charges against President Park Geun-hye and other corruption suspicions surrounding her aides sought an arrest warrant for former welfare minister and current National Pension Service chief Moon Hyung-pyo on Thursday. The team reportedly secured an admission from Moon that he had ordered the NPS to approve the controversial merger deal between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries last year when he was welfare minister. This is the first arrest warrant s

The National Pension Service’s head Moon Hyung-pyo was brought into custody Wednesday by the independent counsel team on suspicion of having pressured the pension fund to support the Samsung merger deal last year when he was the welfare minister. The special investigation team said it detained the former Welfare Minister Moon, who was summoned Tuesday, on charges of abusing his power to back the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in July of last year. The controversial merger helped

The nation’s two largest chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are spurring investment in NAND flash memory in response to strong demand driven by new technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data and smart cars. The world’s largest memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics plans to mass produce 64-layer NAND flash memory for the first time in the world early next year. The tech giant had invested a record 15.6 trillion won ($12.9 billion) into its chip plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Pro

The Chairman of the National Pension Service Moon Hyung-pyo was summoned Tuesday by the independent counsel team on the suspicion of having pressured the National Pension Service to favor the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries last year, when he was welfare minister. Moon was summoned as a witness but may turn into a suspect during the investigation, according to local news reports.Before entering the office of the special counsel, Moon denied the alleged influence-peddling, saying,

Samsung Electronics said Monday it will showcase its creative lab projects for kids and skin care during the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. The creative lab project is a startup business program that encourages a creative corporate culture and nurtures innovative ideas from Samsung employees.“Ideas in diverse areas from fashion and kids to beauty are being developed based on innovative technology and we will continue to seek additional ideas across a broad spectrum,” said Lee Jai-il, vice c

The independent counsel team is speeding up its probe into whether Samsung paid kickbacks to President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil in exchange for backing the merger between its construction arm Samsung C&T and marketing subsidiary Cheil Industries last year.According to local news reports Monday, the counsel team has secured significant evidence and testimony that former Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo had ordered the ministry’s affiliated organization National Pension S

Samsung Electronics has rarely cut its semiannual incentives for its longtime cash cow smartphone division, which continues to struggle to recover from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, according to news reports Friday. Every June and December, the tech giant provides incentives of up to 50 percent of an employee’s monthly salary for its main business divisions -- Information technology & Mobile communications, Device Solution and Consumer Electronics. Additionally, it provides incentives of up to 50 pe

SK hynix said Thursday it would invest a total of 2.2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in its new chip plant in response to the growing demand for NAND flash memory in the global market. The nation’s second-largest chipmaker will make the investment in its chip plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province from August next year to June 2019. “The new chip plant in Cheongju will be a key base for SK hynix, which is preparing for the future, such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” said SK hynix’s CE

Foldable devices could become popular by 2019, grabbing around 20 percent share of the Korean smartphone market, said an executive of Kolon Industries, a chemical arm of Kolon Group. Kolon Industries is currently the only company in the world that can mass produce colorless polyimide, a key technology for foldable devices as the flexible film can replace rigid glass sheets. It is reportedly supplying the materials to global tech firms including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and BOE, althou

Samsung Group has been carrying out charity work throughout December, the company said on Tuesday.Since 1995 Samsung’s management and employees have replaced year-end parties with charity work. This year, around 52,000 employees from all the affiliates of Samsung Group participated in voluntary activities, visiting community child centers and social welfare centers to deliver daily necessities. Samsung employees deliver necessities to elderly people living along near Seoul Station on Dec. 7. Sam

Samsung Electronics’ fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 is unlikely to be killed off this year in South Korea, as there are still around 140,000 users who have not yet returned the recalled devices. According to local news reports Tuesday, Samsung may lower the battery charging limit from the current 60 percent rather than complete disable the phones like the company would do in the US.Since Samsung began recalling the phones in October, 85 percent of the total 950,000 units sold here have been returned.“

The special investigation team has imposed travel bans on conglomerate chiefs as it prepares to dissect the political scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil, according to news reports on Sunday. Samsung Electronics’ Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group’s Chairman Chey Tae-won and Lotte Group’s head Shin Dong-bin have been banned from travelling abroad. The ban came as the independent counsel team is set to begin a 70-day investigation into the scandal from Mon

All of Apple’s iPhone 8 OLED versions will be curved, sources said Sunday, amid growing speculations over the design of the US tech giant’s upcoming flagship smartphones. “The OLED versions of the new iPhone will all have curved screens as Apple ordered only plastic OLED -- not glass -- from Samsung Display. Samsung is capable of supplying a little less than 100 million units of curved OLED displays to Apple,” a source familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald. Plastic OLED has been used fo

The embattled business lobby group Federation of Korean Industries is stuck in a tight spot as it attempts to devise a reform plan without much enthusiasm or support from its major members.None of the heads from the nation’s top five conglomerates -- Samsung, LG, Hyundai, SK and Hanwha -- attended the organization’s meeting on Thursday morning, which was held to gather opinions about the future direction of the organization. The heads were absent from the meeting amid growing calls for the lobby

South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker SK Hynix is expected to set up a joint company on solid-state drives with US data storage company Seagate, according to news reports on Wednesday. When the new company is created, SK Hynix is expected to hold a 51 percent share and Seagate to hold the remaining 49 percent. SK Hynix said in its regulatory filing on Wednesday evening, “Although we are reviewing various plans to boost business competitiveness of NAND flash business for the mid and long term, n

Chinese tech giant Huawei is slated to provide its network equipment for the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics, Huawei and the Olympics committee confirmed Tuesday. Under the supply deal signed Tuesday, Huawei plans to supply wired network equipment and related services for the Olympics. The Chinese firm will also provide various network services including real-time data transmission, broadband certification and event network security monitoring based on an integrated network system. Huawei’s enterp

Beijing issued its first clear warning Monday over Donald Trump's fiery rhetoric, as state media said the Asian giant could back "forces hostile to the US" if the president-elect follows through with threats to drop Washington's One China policy.It was the strongest signal yet from Chinese authorities that abandoning the One China policy, which guides relations with self-ruling Taiwan, would upset decades of carefully managed Sino-US relations and end cooperation between the world's top two econ

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who had a largely ceremonial job until President Park Geun-hye's impeachment last week, now must face off against North Korea and deal with edgy relations with Japan as the country's interim leader.Hwang visited the Joint Chiefs of Staff and told fellow Cabinet members on Monday that there are no unusual security or economic developments. But he will soon face a slew of thorny issues that will test his leadership while the Constitutional Court reviews w