POSCO is facing the prospect of a prolonged labor dispute after union members rejected a tentative wage agreement, leaving the steelmaker struggling to reach a deal following the first strike in its history. The company’s labor union on Sunday said its members had rejected the tentative wage agreement in a vote. Of the 9,177 ballots cast, 4,433 votes, or 48.31 percent, were in favor, while 4,744, or 51.7 percent, were against. The rejection has cast uncertainty over the next round of negotiations, with the union expected to seek better terms than those included in the failed deal. However, it remains unclear how much management will be willing to concede amid a prolonged downturn in the steel industry. The two sides began wage negotiations on June 16 and held around 30 rounds of formal and working-level talks, but failed to narrow their differences over pay increases and other compensation. The union had initially called for a 7.1 percent increase in base pay, a performance bonus worth 600 percent of base pay, 50 shares of company stock for each worker and a holiday bonus worth 200 per

Coupang is facing growing pressure to broaden its lobbying strategy in the United States beyond its Republican allies following the Democrats' sweeping midterm election victory, experts and industry officials said Sunday. The change could be particularly impactful for the e-commerce giant, whose lobbying efforts have helped draw attention in Washington to its dispute with Korean regulators. Republican lawmakers, including members of the House Judiciary Committee, have publicly criticized what they described as discriminatory treatment of the U.S.-headquartered firm in Korea. With Democrats now set to control both chambers of Congress, the institutional backing Coupang has received from Republican lawmakers is expected to weaken, prompting experts and industry watchers to say the company will have to broaden its relationships across both parties to maintain its influence in Washington. “Especially for a digital-focused firm like Coupang, which remains subject to policies under the Republican administration, it is important to balance lobbying efforts between Democrats and Republicans,

More than 9 out of 10 Korean companies operating in Vietnam said they plan to maintain their businesses there despite rising labor costs and regulatory burdens, a survey released Sunday showed. According to the survey conducted by Korea International Trade Association (KITA), 92 percent of Korean companies operating in Vietnam said they had no intention of withdrawing from the Southeast Asian country. Among them, 87.5 percent cited "cost advantage relative to other countries" as the main reason for their stay. The results come despite a sharp rise in wages in Vietnam in recent years, KITA said. The monthly minimum wage of Vietnamese workers increased by more than 4.5 times from $45.4 in 2010 to $205.3 in 2024, according to the association. Monthly wages have risen by an annual average of 11.4 percent during the 14-year period, marking the fastest pace of increase among major economies in Asia. Despite increasing labor costs, companies maintained a positive view on the future outlook of the Vietnamese market. Nearly 60 percent of companies expected their operations in Vietnam to improve ove

Artificial intelligence models will soon be powerful enough to master biology, presenting both benefits and serious risks, Tencent Holdings’ chief AI scientist and former OpenAI star researcher Vinces Yao Shunyu said during a rare public appearance on Saturday. The assessment comes as frontier AI systems are increasingly being applied to medicine and biology, which could accelerate discovery of new drugs and other treatments. However, experts also warn that malicious actors could use AI to...

Apple hasn’t even got its first foldable iPhone into everyone’s hands, but it may already be doing Samsung’s foldable business a favour.

6G’s founding researcher says 5G was faster, “but that’s kind of it”. As preparations for Australia’s next network ramp up, there are important lessons to be learnt.

3 days of concerts, anime showcases and fan experiences await from 27 to 29 November.

In an unconventional lifeline for Korea's traditional press, a diverse corporate coalition spanning tech, retail and entertainment has agreed to rescue JoongAng Ilbo, one of the nation’s most influential conservative daily newspapers. Under a 520 billion won ($388 million) conditional agreement approved Wednesday by the boards of Daou Technology, Saramin, CJ Corp. and Shinsegae, the newly injected capital will flow directly into the newspaper to clear its debts and pull the media outlet out of a creditor-led workout program it entered this summer. According to an assessment by Korea Investors Service (KIS), a Moody’s affiliate, the acquiring companies possess the financial capacity to comfortably fund the transaction. Under the agreed funding structure, Daou Technology will cover 36.5 percent of the total, or about 189.8 billion won, while CJ Corp. will contribute 35.7 percent, or 185.6 billion won. Shinsegae is participating alongside CJ as a financial investor with a 14.1 percent stake (73.3 billion won), and online job portal Saramin will provide 13.7 percent (71.2 billion won).

Korean sellers are finding new opportunities in the global collectibles market, as overseas buyers are willing to pay a premium for rare, hard-to-find items, with trading card sales by Korean sellers on eBay more than tripling year-on-year in the third quarter. EBay said Friday that Korean sellers in the Collectible Card Games Category saw the highest sales growth among all Korean sellers on the global e-commerce platform from July to September this year. Trading cards featuring characters, artists or celebrity athletes fueled platform users’ attraction toward the Korean resellers. The most popular trading cards featured characters from the globally popular animated franchise Pokemon and iconic League of Legends esports team T1. The top-selling item in the category was the 2026 KOREA MEGA FESTA Magikarp card, which also ranked ninth in overall sales among Korean sellers on eBay. The Riftbound X 2025 World Champion T1 Signature Edition Card fetched a premium even during prelaunch sales, demonstrating a global fandom around the product itself and the team represented by professional gam

The personal information of some 39,000 customers and employees has been leaked from Mirae Asset Securities Co., the securities firm said Saturday. Mirae Asset Securities, the country's leading brokerage house, said the account numbers of some 3,800 customers and the personal information of over 35,000 current and former employees, as well as contractors, were leaked. The Korean brokerage said unauthorized external access occurred Wednesday and Thursday, targeting its mobile web phone authentication login service and internal system, respectively. The leaked non-customer, corporate data included names, employee ID numbers, email addresses, mobile phone numbers and passwords. Mirae Asset said it immediately blocked the affected access routes after detecting suspicious activity from external IP addresses and activated its emergency response system. The company also said it reported the incident to the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Personal Information Protection Commission. The data breach came days after its sister companies, including Mirae Asset