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July 06, 2026
 

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Yoolim Lee
Choi Seung-ho, union leader at Samsung Electronics in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, in June. Cho secured a staggering windfall for semiconductor workers who were promised bonuses of roughly $400,000 this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2026
Millennial Samsung union leader’s $26 billion bonus victory turns to bitterness
South Korea’s artificial intelligence gold rush has both emboldened a new generation of Korean tech workers and created new divisions among them.
Samsung Electronics is the world’s biggest supplier of the memory chips that go into everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to servers at artificial intelligence data centers.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2026
Samsung workers accept wage deal that averts chip plant strike
The agreement avoids what could have been a damaging strike for Samsung and the tech industry amid shortages in the memory chip sector.
Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics union, Yeo Myung-koo, head of the People Team under Samsung’s Device Solutions division and the company’s chief management negotiator, and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon pose for photographs after reaching tentative pay deal in Suwon, South Korea, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2026
Samsung reaches 11th-hour deal with union to avoid strike
The truce averts what could have been a damaging strike for Samsung and the tech industry.
Samsung, whose operating profit soared 48-fold in the March quarter, is projected to surpass Apple and Alphabet to rank second only to Nvidia among the world’s most profitable tech companies.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 12, 2026
South Korea roils market by floating ‘citizen dividend’ from AI gains
The benchmark Kospi sank as much as 5.1%, then pared losses after the influential policy adviser clarified he wanted to tap “excess tax revenue” generated from the AI boom.
Visitors listen during the Science and ICT Ministry's first national Self-Reliant AI Foundation Model presentation event at COEX, in Seoul on Dec. 30, 2025.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 25, 2026
Rebel startups challenge conglomerates in South Korea’s ‘AI squid game’
Nicknamed after Netflix’s dystopian survival show, the contest kicked off in January and is designed to have judges pick two of the best homegrown AI models.
Visitors try out Naver Cloud’s AI at South Korea’s Independent AI Foundation Model competition in Seoul, on Dec. 30. Naver Cloud was later eliminated from the competition.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 20, 2026
South Korea kicks off ‘AI Squid Game’ in bid to compete with U.S. and China
The event, designed to identify the leaders in the country’s bid to become an AI powerhouse, is ruthless, like the Netflix show.
Gwanghwamun square in central Seoul on Thursday. South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics reported a preliminary operating profit of 20 trillion won ($13.8 billion) in the three months through December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 8, 2026
Samsung’s profit triples after AI supercharges memory market
South Korea’s largest company reported a preliminary operating profit of 20 trillion won ($13.8 billion) in the three months through December, up 208%.
Brian Kim (center), founder of Kakao Corp., leaves the Southern District Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Billionaire Kakao founder cleared in stock manipulation case
The acquittal allows Kakao to refocus on stabilizing its sprawling businesses, which ranges from messaging and fintech to mobility and entertainment.
People walk past a large electronic screen showing the Samsung logo at a train station in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 14, 2025
Samsung rides global AI boom to its biggest profit since 2022
South Korea’s largest company reported an operating profit of 12.1 trillion won in the September quarter, according to a preliminary earnings report.
Samsung, South Korea’s largest company, reported preliminary operating profit of 4.6 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in the June quarter, a roughly 56% drop from a year ago.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2025
Samsung profit halves amid delays to certification for advanced AI chips
The company has yet to secure certification from Nvidia for its most advanced product, creating an unusually long lead time for rivals in the highly lucrative space.
For Nintendo, it’s been a challenge making sure it can produce enough Switch 2 gaming devices to meet demand.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2025
Nintendo turns to Samsung to make chips for Switch 2
The Kyoto-based company is pivoting to Samsung because the Nvidia-based chipset that the Switch 2 employs was optimized for the Korean company’s manufacturing systems.
A person walks past a logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside a shop in Seoul on Tuesday. Shares in Samsung jumped after its profit for the first three months of 2025 handily beat expectations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2025
Samsung shares jump after profit gets boost from new Galaxy S25
Inventory stockpiling by Chinese buyers who hurried to secure supply of electronics before U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed new tariffs also provided support.
People demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 6, 2024
South Korea’s leader is likely to hang on, despite being reviled
For the impeachment movement to be successful, the opposition needs only eight of the 108 lawmakers in the ruling party to switch sides.
Samsung’s stock has plunged 32% from July’s peak as it lags behind rivals in AI memory and chipmaking, shedding $122 billion in market value and investor confidence.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024
Samsung’s sudden $122 billion wipeout shows the cost of sleeping on AI
South Korea’s biggest company has become a stark example of how quickly fortunes can turn in the AI and chipmaking industries.
A woman walks past a Samsung store in Seoul on June 28. Sources have said that the firm is planning overseas layoffs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024
Samsung to cut thousands of jobs amid struggles in AI market
Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10% in certain markets, a source said.
Samsung has won the long-awaited approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia for a version of its high-bandwidth HBM3 memory chips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024
Samsung begins closing gap in making AI memory chips for Nvidia
The advances that include winning approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia come after months of stumbles for Samsung.
Brian Kim (center), founder of Kakao, arrives at the Seoul Southern District Court in Seoul on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2024
Arrest warrant out for Kakao founder in stock-rigging case
Brian Kim is facing accusations that he was involved in a stock-rigging scheme during the high-profile takeover of SM Entertainment in 2023.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 27, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024
Mark Zuckerberg’s Asia tour to focus on AI
The Meta Platforms’ CEO is in Japan with his family on a ski trip, and is set to meet with his developers in Tokyo to discuss virtual-reality and AI.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 7, 2021
The world’s relentless demand for chips turns deadly in Malaysia
The tragedy shows the little-understood human cost of keeping industries happy and supply chains running while a contagious virus rages.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2021
Japan crypto exchange bitFlyer weighs acquisition to boost firm
It’s also planning to enter the non-fungible token market to tap into the boom.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Thailand gets serious about chasing high-spending tourists
Chinese tourists at Wat Arun Ratchawararam Rathawaramahawihan in Bangkok
Murakami says his novels are ‘different’ from AI literature
Haruki Murakami's first book in three years hit shelves in Japan on Friday.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
X Games returns to Chiba with new team format
Skateboarder Sora Shirai practices at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Friday afternoon. X Games Chiba begins on Saturday.
NU Festival tests Takanawa Gateway City complex’s culture cred
Veteran improvisers Kazuo Imai and Atsuhiro Ito brought some unruly energy to NU Festival, a three-day multimedia event held at the Takanawa Gateway City complex.  
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.

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