South Korean battery materials makers challenge China’s near-monopoly with a fresh push into lithium iron phosphate cathodes as US restrictions and energy storage demand create an opening for Korean suppliers. Posco Future M and L&F, long focused on nickel-rich cathodes for electric vehicles, are converting production lines, building dedicated LFP plants, and locking in multitrillion-won supply deals with Korea’s major battery makers. Behind the shift is a rapid expansion of energy storage syste

China’s widening lead in humanoid robot patents is raising the stakes for South Korea’s push to compete in the fast-growing industry. Across the world’s five major intellectual property offices, known as IP5, China accounted for 60.8 percent of humanoid robot patents as of the first half of 2026, according to Intellectual Property Office data obtained by Rep. Lee Jeong-heon’s office. The US held 21.8 percent and Korea 4.6 percent. China’s share rose from 51.8 percent in 2024, while Korea’s fell

China’s rise is reshaping the global power structure, economic order and technological landscape as Beijing seeks a larger global role under President Xi Jinping, bringing it into deeper strategic competition with the US, according to experts. Kim Heung-kyu, president of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, made the assessment in a keynote speech titled “South Korea’s Choice in an Era of US-China Strategic Competition” at a seminar hosted by the China Capital Market Society at the Korea Financ

China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies has begun mass production of its fifth-generation DRAM platform, strengthening its position in a market dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron, while separately preparing a research line for a possible move into NAND flash. CXMT said Sunday that its G5 platform had entered mass production, along with two 24-gigabit LPDDR5X products for smartphones and other portable devices. DRAM is the working memory processors use to handle data in real time,

South Korean battery material makers are accelerating efforts to build traceable, non-Chinese supply chains as tighter US rules threaten federal clean energy incentives for products linked to China. LS-L&F Battery Solution, a joint venture between LS Group and L&F, has begun qualification tests to make precursor materials — blends of metals used in cathodes —using metal sulfates produced by LS Group affiliate LS MnM, according to reports Thursday. If testing is completed as planned, LLBS could b

China’s rise as an electric vehicle powerhouse is forcing global automakers to rewrite their playbooks. With its speed, tightly integrated supply chains and advanced battery ecosystem, the country is no longer simply the world’s largest EV market — it is where the industry’s next competitive rules are being set. For Asia’s two leading automakers, Hyundai Motor Group and Toyota, staying competitive in next-generation mobility increasingly depends on how they use China. Yet the two are placing mar

Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT has begun producing HBM3E in small quantities and testing it with domestic AI chip developers, according to The Information on Monday. The step could increase competitive pressure on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix even as the Korean memory leaders remain ahead in cutting-edge HBM technology and mass production. Alibaba Group’s chip unit T-Head and Beijing-based Cambricon Technologies are testing CXMT’s high-bandwidth memory with their processors, The Information r

China’s CXMT has announced mass production of LPDDR6 memory for Xiaomi’s upcoming 18 Fold, moving ahead of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in publicly confirming both production and a commercial handset deployment for the next-generation mobile DRAM. CXMT said Saturday that its LPDDR6 had “officially entered mass production” and would debut in the 18 Fold in September. Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun separately confirmed that the company’s new Xring O3 processor would support CXMT’s LPDDR6 and t

China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies is forecast to increase NAND wafer output by nearly 25 percent next year, as it seeks to catch up with its Korean rivals, whose major expansions are not expected until 2028. Market tracker Omdia expects YMTC’s annual NAND output will rise by 486,000 wafers, from 2.01 million this year to 2.50 million in 2027, according to industry sources Sunday. The expansion will be driven largely by the company’s third plant in Wuhan, which is scheduled to begin initial ope

Yangtze Memory Technologies, China’s largest maker of NAND flash memory, has crossed a threshold where Samsung Electronics and SK hynix can no longer dismiss it as a low-end challenger. YMTC filed on Aug. 21 for a Shanghai initial public offering that could raise about $4.9 billion, less than two weeks after Counterpoint Research put it at 14 percent of global NAND shipments in the second quarter, level with Japan’s Kioxia and behind only Samsung and the combined SK hynix-Solidigm group. China’s