Korean tobacco and consumer goods company KT&G was named the grand prize winner at the 2026 Korea IR Awards, securing the top accolade presented by the Korea Exchange’s investor relations service, the company said Monday. The award, presented as the Korea Exchange chairman's prize, was handed out Friday at KRX Market Square in Seoul's Yeouido financial district. Yoon Young-chan, head of KT&G's strategic planning division, accepted the award from Korea Exchange Chairman Chung Eun-bo. The Korea IR Service has handed out the awards since 2001 to companies recognized for active, efficient investor relations work that supports capital-market development through shareholder-focused management. KT&G was cited for an "open IR culture" in which executives present strategy directly to investors — on global business expansion, shareholder returns and growth investment — and fold investor feedback into management decisions, along with regular investor conferences, non-deal road shows and meetings with major domestic and international institutional investors. The company raised its interim divi

Audi has officially crossed the 300,000-vehicle sales mark in Korea, cementing its position as one of the country's most popular foreign luxury automakers. The German brand said Monday that cumulative registrations reached the milestone, making Audi only the third imported carmaker to achieve the feat in the Korean market. To mark the achievement, Audi Korea is launching a customer-appreciation program, called thAnk Q, with its nationwide dealer network, offering benefits and brand experiences as a way to thank its customers, the company said. Audi Korea attributed the growth partly to customer-engagement programs it has run this year, including Audi Open House, where customers can test-drive various models and services; Audi Venture, an outdoor lifestyle program; and Audi Summer Tour, a driving and lifestyle experience event. "Reaching 300,000 cumulative registrations here is a meaningful achievement made possible by the trust and support of the customers who have chosen Audi," Audi Korea President Steve Cloete said. "We will continue to strengthen customer satisfaction and long-term tru

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) does not take Washington’s threat to bar Chairman Ju Biung-ghi from entering the United States seriously, brushing off escalating U.S. pressure over the watchdog’s regulatory crackdown on U.S.-listed Coupang, the head of the authority said Monday. “We will not be swayed by this, but will continue law enforcement in a nondiscriminatory manner,” Ju told reporters during a press conference in Sejong, referring to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s recent moves targeting alleged discrimination against U.S. companies. Ju’s comments come as the Coupang dispute has grown into a bigger source of tension in Korea-U.S. economic relations. The U.S. committee issued a report in July accusing Korean authorities of discriminatory treatment of Coupang, arguing that the company had been subjected to excessive investigations and penalties. A U.S. lawmaker subsequently introduced legislation that would restrict U.S. entry to foreign officials accused of using government authority to discriminate against American companies, explicitly citing the Coupang case a

Hyundai Engineering & Construction (E&C) has begun construction on Korea's first data center built exclusively for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, the company said Monday, aiming to finish the project in a record 16.5 months. Hyundai E&C signed the main contract with AI Factory Pohang PFV, the project's special-purpose vehicle, and has started installing precast concrete — factory-made concrete components assembled on site, rather than poured in place — for the facility in Pohang's Gwangmyeong general industrial complex. Construction began in June, with operations targeted for the second half of 2027. The 40-megawatt facility will run on Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) and use liquid cooling, a system that circulates coolant directly to chips rather than relying on airflow, to handle the intense heat generated by AI servers — a first for a Korean data center, the company said. It is designed to run at roughly 10 times the power density of a typical cloud data center to accommodate Nvidia's upcoming "Vera Rubin" AI chips, with a power usage effectiveness rating —

Korean steelmakers are cautiously hopeful that voluntary production cuts by about 45 Chinese mills could ease the oversupply and price pressure that have squeezed their margins, although the impact will depend on how deeply and consistently output is reduced. “Reducing inventories and cutting production is certainly welcome and positive for the Korean steel industry,” an industry official said. “If China were to make a drastic cut of 200 million or 300 million tons, I think it would have a very positive effect on steelmakers around the world, including those in Korea.” The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) recently called on about 45 steelmakers, including China Baowu Group, Ansteel Group, HBIS Group and Shougang Group, to adjust production and inventories based on actual orders and profitability rather than maintaining full production despite weak demand. The move comes as weak property and construction demand has left Chinese mills with high inventories and deteriorating profitability. China’s crude steel output fell 3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026, whil

Korea Zinc, the world's largest refined zinc smelter, said on Monday that its $7.4 billion U.S. manufacturing project has cleared an environmental impact assessment. The approval is expected to accelerate the company's plan to build a critical metals refinery in Clarksville, Tennessee, under the project name "Project Crucible," the company said in a press release. The facility is scheduled to begin test operations in 2029 and commercial production of 11 core minerals, 12 nonferrous metals and semiconductor-grade sulfuric acid the following year. Project Crucible is the first "FAST-41" project approved by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council since Korea Zinc signed a memorandum of understanding with the state of Tennessee in May, the company said. "With Project Crucible now designated as a FAST-41 project, we are accelerating critical infrastructure development and improving government efficiency to move this project forward without unnecessary delays," Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said. In April, Korea Zinc said it had completed the acquisition of a local zinc smelter and other

HanmiGlobal, a global construction project management company, said Monday it is providing project management services for SK hynix's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) advanced packaging plant under construction in West Lafayette, Indiana. SK hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 27 at Purdue University’s Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette for the facility, which will be the company’s first artificial intelligence memory production base in the United States. The project represents an investment of more than $4 billion. Construction began in March, with the cleanroom scheduled for completion in October 2028. HanmiGlobal has been involved in the project since the pre-construction stage in August 2024 and will oversee construction project management through completion of the cleanroom in 2028. Its responsibilities include design management, schedule and cost control, quality and safety management and risk management. The company also coordinates SK hynix’s Korean and U.S. partners involved in the project. As Korean high-tech companies expand their operations in the U.S., demand is grow

Only the Vivo X500 and X500 Pro Max are coming to Singapore’s shores. No sign of an Ultra yet.

The United States and China’s agreement to establish an official AI dialogue, including a proposed threat-notification system, marks a pragmatic step towards crisis prevention in their tech war, even as deep-seated divisions over chip access, model distillation and market dominance threaten to limit its impact, analysts said. Announced following high-level talks in New York on Sunday between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Vice-Premier He Lifeng,...