Samsung in search of lobbying experts with strong ties to Trump With US President Donald Trump escalating threats of tariffs and trade restrictions, South Korean conglomerates are rushing to revamp their Washington offices to establish direct connections with the new administration. Samsung Electronics, the world's leading smartphone and semiconductor maker, is considering appointing a new head for its US office and is actively seeking experts with strong ties to Trump. "We are actively looking

Samsung Electronics has won a temporary injunction against Chinese appliance-maker TCL in Germany, barring TCL from using the contested TV brand name in the European Union. Samsung filed an injunction lawsuit in November against TCL’s German subsidiary at the Dusseldorf Regional Court, alleging that TCL’s Nxtframe infringes on the trademark of Samsung’s The Frame TV, according to sources. The court ruled in Samsung’s favor on Feb. 26, following an oral hearing on Jan. 29, where it found a likeli

Acting President Choi Sang-mok said Wednesday the government will work to allow semiconductor workers to put in extra hours when needed and adopt measures to foster the development of new technologies and industries to ensure the country's sustainable growth amid intensifying global competition. Choi made the remarks at a regular meeting of economy-related ministers, saying the country's "technological capability equals the national strength." "The government will work to foster the growth of ar

South Korea has been informally told that the US Department of Energy (DOE) was considering categorizing it as a "sensitive country" and has since raised the issue with the department, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said Tuesday. Cho made the remarks during a parliamentary session amid signs that the DOE, which oversees energy and nuclear policies, is reviewing the possibility of placing South Korea on its sensitive country list. If placed, researchers from countries on the list undergo more strin

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it made its largest-ever investment in research and development (R&D) and facility expansion last year. The tech giant spent about 35 trillion won (US$24.09 billion) on R&D projects in 2024, up 23.5 percent from a year earlier, according to its business report released in the day. The 2024 figure marked the greatest R&D investment Samsung has ever made. The total facility investment rose by 500 billion won on-year to come to 53.6 trillion won in 2024, also an

Police said Tuesday they decided to disclose the identity of the teacher this week accused of stabbing an 8-year-old student to death at an elementary school in the central city of Daejeon. The female teacher in her 40s confessed to stabbing the student after the girl was found with stab wounds in a school building on Feb. 10. The girl was later pronounced dead at a hospital due to excessive bleeding. The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency decided to disclose the suspect's name, age and photos o

South Korean automaker Kia told AFP on Tuesday it had not approved an advertising campaign that featured one of its electric vehicles with a bumper sticker denigrating rival Tesla owner Elon Musk. The advertisement, posted last month on the social media accounts of Kia Norway, features the company's entry-level electric car, the EV3, with a bumper sticker saying: "I bought this after Elon went crazy." The sticker appears to riff on a viral trend of Tesla owners, unhappy with the world's richest

LG Electronics is grappling with anticipated tariffs from the administration of US President Donald Trump on imported televisions. However, building a new manufacturing facility in the US immediately would be challenging due to logistical hurdles, an official said Tuesday. Baik Sun-pil, the LG Electronics vice president leading the company’s TV product planning division, made the remarks as the company unveiled its 2025 lineup of organic light-emitting diode and quantum nanocell-emitting diode T

Opposition leader’s state-owned tech proposal faces reality check South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung’s recent proposal to establish a big tech company akin to Nvidia, but one that is state-backed and profit would be distributed among citizens, has sparked a heated debate among business and political circles here. “If a company like Nvidia were to be established (in Korea), with 70 percent of shares privately owned and 30 percent distributed among citizens, wouldn’t a society emerge tha

Prolonged political turmoil leaves Korean firms without US negotiating power South Korean chipmakers are in a tough spot as US President Donald Trump threatens to revoke the federal subsidies pledged to them for building advanced semiconductor production facilities in the US, escalating his attacks on his predecessor’s chip support program. Although some view Trump’s remarks as political posturing aimed at pressuring chipmakers to invest more, companies that have already committed tens of billio

Samsung Electronics has received final approval from South Korea's antitrust regulator to acquire Rainbow Robotics, paving the way for the tech giant to expand its robotics business to humanoid robots. The Fair Trade Commission approved Samsung's acquisition of a controlling stake in Rainbow Robotics on Wednesday, concluding that the merger poses minimal concerns regarding market competition. “With the approval, we will accelerate the development of future robots, including advanced intelligent

Hisense, TCL accused of deceptive marketing in US, as they challenge market leader Samsung Chinese TV-makers are facing legal challenges in the US for misleading consumers by claiming that their QLED screens incorporate highly advanced quantum-dot technology for better image quality when they do not. Industry experts warn that these "deceptive" attempts by Chinese companies to outpace their Korean rivals who lead the premium QLED TV market are only undermining their own positions in the high-end

Google makes 4th attempt to export high-precision mapping data instead of investing in local data centers or servers The longstanding dispute over South Korea's restriction on the overseas transfer of geographic data has resurfaced, with US President Donald Trump having criticized the policy as a non-tariff barrier. The issue has gained renewed attention as Google recently filed a request to export high-precision mapping data for the first time in nine years. According to industry sources on Thu

At the Mobile World Congress 2025, LG Uplus announced a strategic partnership with Google to integrate the tech giant’s artificial intelligence model, Gemini, into LG Uplus’ AI agent, ixi O. The collaboration aims to enhance the AI assistant’s capabilities and drive global expansion. “Google approached LG Uplus with a proposal to merge Gemini with ixi O for international market expansion,” LG Uplus CEO Hong Bum-shik said in a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday. “Our shared objective i

• Korea stresses ‘effectively 0% tariff’ on US goods under FTA • Trump lures Korean investments into Alaska LNG project US President Donald Trump said that South Korea’s tariffs are on average four times higher than those of the US, despite American military support, indicating reciprocal tariffs could take effect from April 2 as he made the case for his tariff policy. Delivering his remarks at his first address to a joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday, Trump also called for an end to th