Samsung Biologics showcased manufacturing technologies designed to accelerate biopharmaceutical development and improve product quality at BioProcess International (BPI) 2026 in Boston, highlighting efforts to streamline complex drug production. The company said Monday it participated in BPI from Sept. 22-25, drawing more than 3,000 biopharmaceutical professionals from around the world. Samsung Biologics, which has attended BPI for nine consecutive years, operated its own booth featuring capabilities spanning contract research, development and manufacturing, along with Samsung Organoids, differentiated contract development and manufacturing services and production for multiple modalities. During a presentation Wednesday, the company's antibody purification process development team outlined an integrated chemistry, manufacturing and controls strategy for bispecific and multispecific antibodies. The team said molecule-specific process development reduced a development timeline from 13 months to 9.5 months while maintaining high quality. Scientific posters presented during the conference als

Almonty Korea Tungsten Corp. (AKTC) has produced its first bulk bag of salable tungsten concentrate produced at its Sangdong mine in Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province, ready for shipment, marking a key step toward commercial production. The Korean subsidiary of New York-based Almonty Industries said Monday that the production of 1 ton of minerals came after the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp. issued a mining facility inspection certificate for the mine’s processing plant and crushing facilities on Sept. 17. The state-run company under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources inspected the facilities on Sept. 14 and found the plant and facilities compliant. The certification has formally opened doors for AKTC to operate the facilities and process ores mined at Sangdong into tungsten concentrate for domestic supply and export. Production involves crushing, grinding and flotation to separate tungsten-bearing material from the ores. AKTC said it will gradually increase output and begin supplying customers in Korea and overseas after the production process stabili

Mobile platform giant Kakao Group named Kakao Investment CEO Kim Do-young as co-chair of the group’s control tower, ahead of the planned spin-off of its flagship unit Kakao Corp. Kakao Group said Monday that its CEOs agreed to appoint Kim as co-chair of the Corporate Alignment (CA) Council. Kim will lead the council alongside existing CA Council Chair Chung Shin-a, who is also CEO of Kakao Corp. The group said the appointment is intended to ensure continuity in key decision-making and enhance organizational stability ahead of the spin-off. Kim and Chung will jointly oversee major decisions until the split, while strengthening group-wide coordination and execution. Kim is an investment specialist who built his career as an investment banking director at Samsung Securities. Before joining Kakao Group, he served as chief financial officer of Kolon Mobility Group from 2022 to 2025. The appointment is in line with the proposed spin-off of Kakao Corp. Under the plan, the company will be split into Kakao AI, which will oversee flagship messenger KakaoTalk, artificial intelligence (AI), advert

Samsung Electronics said Monday it will expand its artificial intelligence (AI) subscription services by offering more personalized options tailored to individual customers. The service, launched two years ago, has generated nearly 1 trillion won ($734 million) in cumulative sales, excluding mobile products, the Korean tech giant said. "Samsung AI subscription with Blue Pass is approaching 1 trillion won in sales just one year after its launch, thanks to the love and support of our customers," Im Sung-taek, executive vice president who heads Korea's sales team, told reporters. The latest revamp focuses on strengthening personalized customer care. Samsung has added two new options to its "Blue Pass" service, which provides expert support ranging from product installation to after-sales service. Based on the service's growth, Samsung said it plans to expand subscription options based on customers' life stages, product-management needs and budgets. The company cited the rapid growth of the domestic subscription market as a key factor behind the expansion. According to Samsung, 94.8 percent of

Hanwha Solutions is strengthening its business foothold in China’s extra-high-voltage transmission and offshore wind markets, as part of efforts to accelerate the expansion of its global high-value-added cable materials business. Hanwha Solutions’ Wire & Cable Division participated in Wire China 2026, an international wire and cable exhibition held in Shanghai from Sept. 21-24, and showcased next-generation technologies including extra-high-voltage cable materials and circular solutions. Under the theme of “Best Quality, Better Planet,” Hanwha Solutions presented its high-performance cable materials technologies and sustainable circular solutions. In particular, Hanwha Solutions exhibited a cable model incorporating next-generation 500-kilovolt class super extra-high voltage cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) and semi-conductive materials, demonstrating its insulation reliability and materials technology for extra-high-voltage power transmission environments. Hanwha Solutions also unveiled its Closed Loop solution for circular XLPE, powered by its proprietary decrosslinking technol

Coupang’s ongoing confrontation with Korean regulators is exposing a structural risk for U.S. investors, as the Nasdaq-listed e-commerce giant remains overwhelmingly reliant on the Korean market, where it is facing mounting regulatory pressure. Coupang makes more than 90 percent of its total sales in Korea, resulting in an unusually high dependence on Korea for a Nasdaq-listed company. That concentration has become particularly significant since a massive data breach disclosed in November 2025 triggered a cascade of government investigations, penalties and legal disputes. Coupang shares closed at $13.88 (18,800 won) on Friday, down 50.7 percent from $28.16 on Nov. 28 last year, the last trading day before the company publicly disclosed the breach. The decline cannot be attributed entirely to the data breach that affected more than 33 million customer accounts, or the subsequent regulatory actions. Coupang swung to a $266 million net loss in the first quarter of 2026 as compensation vouchers and weaker customer demand hurt its results, while its second-quarter earnings also fell short o

Korea will begin production of its first satellite for the Korean Positioning System (KPS) ahead of a planned launch in September 2029, the space agency said Monday. The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said it will hold a critical design review with related ministries and research institutions for the KPS No. 1 satellite, marking the final review before production of the flight model begins. The KPS is Korea's planned satellite navigation system designed to provide high-precision positioning, navigation and timing services over the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas. The government plans to invest 3.72 trillion won ($2.73 billion) in the project over 14 years from 2022. Despite the delay, KASA plans to maintain its goal of deploying all eight KPS satellites by 2035.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is facing scrutiny over its cybersecurity after the personal information of 186 employees was leaked in a hacking incident earlier this year, according to central bank's data submitted to Rep. Lee Jong-wook of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), Monday. The breach occurred between May and June after hackers gained access to a GitHub system used by a contractor for the BOK's online training program. The leaked information included employees' names, email addresses, phone numbers, positions, duties and passwords. "We were notified by the contractor of the breach on June 11 and informed the affected employees the following day. We also reported the incident to the Personal Information Protection Commission," a BOK official said. The PPP lawmaker said the central bank should not take the leak of employees' personal information or repeated disruptions to its websites lightly. "As the central bank, the BOK should thoroughly assess the causes of the repeated incidents, review its overall security system and establish measures to prevent them from happening again

Hanwha Ocean said Monday it has won a 680 billion-won ($499.6 million) order to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The Korean shipbuilder said in a regulatory filing that it will deliver the vessels to an unidentified African shipowner by November 2029. With the latest contract, Hanwha Ocean has secured orders worth a combined $7.71 billion for 41 vessels so far this year, including 18 very large crude carriers, eight LNG carriers and six container ships.

KT is joining the ninth meeting of the NATO Wireless Communications Standardization Project (NWCSP), becoming the first Korean telecom company to take part as a 5G and 6G standardization expert. The meeting, hosted by Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and the Telecommunications Technology Association, kicked off its four-day run on Monday, drawing about 100 officials from defense and government agencies, as well as telecom and standards experts from Korea and abroad. Participants will discuss the use of 5G and 6G technologies in defense applications and the development of standards for next-generation military communications. NWCSP is a civil-military cooperation project involving government officials and private sector experts from NATO member and partner countries to discuss the military use and standardization of next-generation mobile communications technologies. The project holds three in-person meetings a year, with its previous edition held in San Diego in May. Throughout the meeting, KT will share its experience deploying commercial 5G technology for defense applications and

AIA Life Korea has tapped Leo Ng as its next chief executive, the insurer said Monday. Ng joins from AIA China, where he has served as chief financial officer since 2016. He brings over 30 years of experience in the life insurance industry, including 12 years with AIA. The Hong Kong-headquartered life insurer operates across 18 markets in the Asia-Pacific region, including Seoul. Ng holds a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo in Canada, specializing in actuarial science and statistics, and is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries. “My immediate priority will be to listen and learn by spending time with our people, customers and partners to develop a deeper understanding of the Korean market and the significant opportunities ahead,” he said. Fisher Zhang, regional chief executive and chairman of the board of AIA Life Korea, regarded Ng as a “highly experienced AIA leader with a strong track record across strategy, transformation and financial leadership.” “Korea is an important market for AIA, and I am confident that Leo will work closely with the AIA Ko

Labor disputes at major steel and shipbuilding companies are set to resume after a brief recess over the Chuseok holiday, as unions push for higher wages and greater performance-based rewards amid strong earnings and order backlogs. POSCO, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean entered the holiday with wage talks stalled or unresolved, after their unions staged or threatened labor action over their demands. The disputes raise the risk of further disruptions, particularly at shipyards working through multi-year order backlogs. At POSCO, the union is set to resume wage negotiations after electing new leadership on Oct. 2. Experiencing its first strike since its establishment, POSCO saw the union stage a 48-hour partial strike earlier this month, followed by a second 120-hour partial strike that ended on Sept. 21. The two sides are at odds over the size and structure of the pay package, with the union seeking a 7.1 percent increase in base pay, bonuses equivalent to 600 percent of base pay, 50 shares under an employee stock ownership plan and a 200 percent holiday bonus. The company,

Korea's bank branches will open 30 minutes later starting in April next year, reducing customer service hours under a tentative labor-management agreement reached Monday. Under the agreement, branches will open at 9:30 a.m., instead of the current 9 a.m., while closing hours will remain unchanged at 4 p.m. The tentative deal between the Korean Financial Industry Union, which represents workers at major commercial and policy banks, and the Korea Financial Industry Employers Association also calls for a 3 percent increase in total wages. The two sides began negotiations in April and reached the tentative deal after about five months of talks. The union said it would call off a planned strike scheduled for Wednesday following the agreement. The deal also includes a flexible work schedule allowing employees to delay their start time by up to one hour per week, with a maximum of 30 minutes per day. It also introduces a system for compensatory leave and changes to employee performance evaluations. It also calls for improvements to the mystery shopping system, which is currently used to assess c

Samsung Electro-Mechanics said Monday it will invest 4.27 trillion won ($3.14 billion) to expand its semiconductor substrate production capacity at its plant in Sejong, marking the largest amount of capital expenditure on a single product in the company’s history. According to its regulatory filing, the company will expand its production capacity for flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrates at the Sejong plant to meet growing demand from artificial intelligence (AI) servers. The investment will run from September 2026 through May 2028, with mass production on the new lines scheduled to begin in September 2028. This is part of the company’s commitment announced in July that it will invest 8 trillion won in the nation's central Chungcheong region, which includes Sejong, and 15 trillion won in the Busan area by 2040. FC-BGA is a highly integrated semiconductor substrate that connects high-performance chips — such as AI accelerators, graphics processing units and central processing units — to mainboards, transmitting electrical signals and supplying power. Demand for FC-BGA subst

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ByteDance accounts for roughly one-fifth of China’s delivered data centre capacity, making the TikTok owner the country’s largest tenant and a main driver of its artificial intelligence buildout, according to new estimates by research firm SemiAnalysis. The estimate comes from the firm’s tracking of more than 1,000 facilities in China operated by over 60 companies. ByteDance rents nearly all of its data centre footprint, SemiAnalysis said. Its AI products include Doubao, an assistant that...

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Korea's spy agency has detected more than 100 cases of industrial technology leaks overseas over the past five years, with semiconductors accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total, data showed Sunday. According to data submitted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources to the National Assembly, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) detected 107 cases of overseas industrial technology leaks between 2021 and 2025. Semiconductor technologies accounted for the largest share with 40 cases, followed by display technologies with 21 cases, and electrical and electronics technologies with 10 cases. Seven cases involved automotive technologies, while six involved shipbuilding technologies. Of the 107 cases, 31 involved national core technologies, which the government designates as critical to national security and the economy due to their technological and economic value or growth potential, the NIS data showed. Semiconductors also accounted for the largest share of leaks involving national core technologies, with nine cases, followed by displays and electrical and electronics technol

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both saw their parental leave rates decline in the first half of this year, marking the first time the two companies have recorded simultaneous declines, as expectations for hefty performance-based bonuses grow amid a semiconductor boom. The decline comes as both companies are expected to post record-high profits this year, with employees potentially eligible for bonuses worth hundreds of millions of won as the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand for memory chips fuels a semiconductor supercycle. According to the companies’ half-year reports, Samsung Electronics’ parental leave rate among employees with children born during the year stood at 35.5 percent in the first half, down from 36.2 percent a year earlier. The rate fell for both men and women. The rate for men taking parental leave rate dropped to 11.2 percent from 12.4 percent in the same period the year before, while the rate for women fell to 88.2 percent from 94.3 percent. At SK hynix, the parental leave rate among employees with children of elementary school age or younger fell to 3.2

Hanwha Aerospace has apologized for hiring guidelines that restricted experienced-hire applicants based on age and educational background, pledging to discipline those responsible and overhaul its recruitment process to prevent similar incidents. CEO Lee Boo-hwan issued an apology on the company website on Sunday, saying it was unacceptable to restrict applicants’ opportunities based on personal attributes. “There should never have been guidelines that could limit applicants’ opportunities based on personal factors such as education and age, which are unrelated to job performance,” Lee said. The labor ministry launched an inspection on Sept. 16 over allegations that Hanwha Aerospace had prepared and distributed guidelines specifying age ranges and universities for experienced-hire positions to human resources executives and hiring managers. Lee said the guidelines “directly violated” the company’s principles of open hiring and equal opportunity, adding that he took the matter very seriously. “This was a clear failure on our part, as incorrect guidelines were distributed to

Korea’s planned power infrastructure investment in the United States could generate a second wave of orders for Korean battery and power equipment makers, as surging electricity consumption from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers drives demand for energy storage systems (ESS) and grid equipment. Last week, the Korean government announced its first U.S. strategic investment project, part of a $350 billion investment package. The project worth $22.3 billion is centered on building a natural gas-fired power plant in Encinal, Texas, to meet rising electricity demand from semiconductor plants and AI data centers. The project is also expected to create additional demand for equipment needed to store, distribute and stabilize power, enabling relevant system makers to attract more orders from the world’s largest economy. ESS is one of the largest pillar under the project. Korean battery makers — LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On — identify ESS as their major revenue areas while the electric vehicle industry is stuck in a chasm. ESS can store electricity when demand is low

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The globaly mega K-pop star has helped design a Chroma Pearl PS5 controller arriving in Singapore on 30 October.

Bandai Namco has started a separate Gundam timeline, with humanity facing something other than itself for a change.

Voting for the HardwareZone Tech Awards 2026 Readers’ Choice is now open! Stand a chance to win $3,000 worth of Grab Vouchers!