Leading Medical Scrub Factory from China E-SONG APPAREL: SMETA Audit and Production Process Review

Data sovereignty is not as simply as we thought When the government passed Executive Order 119 to push for data privacy and sovereign data in Philippine soil, there’s more to the context than just having physical data centers to house private citizen data. Whenever you query into an AI tool, the data travels across boundaries

SpaceX founder Elon Musk warned Democrats over a possible congressional probe on Wednesday, writing, “live by the sword, die by the sword.” “Those who pick fights with me should understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets,” Musk wrote on the social platform...

The Firestarter collection pairs a flame-covered Titan Evo with the first K/DA-themed Magnus Pro desk.

Jefferson’s Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller was in Seoul last week for a special event in Korea, offering a unique opportunity to introduce his Kentucky-based brand to Korean consumers. It marked the finale of a six-month program involving 40 Korean bartenders who explored the brand and developed their own cocktails using its bourbon. Zoeller, who founded the brand with his father, Chet Zoeller, in 1997, came to Korea to recognize the bartenders whose cocktails for the Camp Jefferson program sold the most and best reflected his vision for the brand. In 2023, Zoeller and his late father were inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. During the event, he shared insights into the brand with the participating bartenders, explaining how his passion for outdoor adventure helped shape its identity beyond bourbon-making traditions. Zoeller said he was surprised to see his bourbon transformed into a variety of creative cocktails he had never imagined before. “I loved it. There was so much creativity that came through so many different variations of products that I never had. I tasted every

Merck opened a new production facility for key materials used in semiconductor deposition in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday, underscoring its commitment to expanding its presence in Korea's chip industry and strengthening a local-for-local supply chain. According to the company, the new facility produces molybdenum precursor solutions used in semiconductor manufacturing. New Merck Electronics CEO Benjamin Hein, Head of Thin Films Business Bing Han and other company executives attended the opening ceremony, while North Chungcheong Province Gov. Shin Yong-han delivered a congratulatory video message. This marks Hein's first visit to Korea since his appointment as Merck's Electronics CEO in May. During a press conference a day before the opening ceremony, Hein said customers increasingly want integrated solutions backed by local support, requiring closer cooperation between Merck's materials business and its delivery systems and services business. "What customers expect is that you provide an integrated solution. They don't just want to buy the precursor. They don't

Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it has begun collecting public opinion on draft guidelines against advertisements exaggerating products' use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, a practice known as "AI washing." The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it plans to gather opinions through Nov. 11 amid a growing number of products advertising AI features, with some allegedly providing misleading or deceptive information to consumers. "The term AI is used to describe products' advanced technology, accuracy and objectivity, leading consumers to perceive their performance and reliability as relatively superior or to be willing to pay extra," the FTC said. Amid the trend, the watchdog said consumers need to be aware of products advertised as having AI features even though they do not actually use such technologies. The guidelines cover four major categories of potential violations of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising and include a self-assessment checklist and frequently asked questions. The FTC cited examples including electric hot-water heating mats, cat litter boxes, pil

An appeals court on Thursday ruled against U.S. private equity firm Lone Star Funds in its suit against the Korean and Seoul city governments to return a combined 168.2 billion won ($125.9 million) in taxes. The Seoul High Court handed down the ruling against Lone Star after the Supreme Court returned the case to the appeals court for review in April last year. The Texas-based firm had earlier filed the suit against the state and the municipality, seeking the return of withheld taxes in connection with profits from its investments in Korea. Lone Star and affiliate firms purchased large shares of Korea Exchange Bank, Kukdong Engineering Construction and Starlease between 2002 and 2005, and made huge profits by selling some of the shares in 2007. They paid smaller taxes than local companies would have, citing the tax treaty that Korea has with Belgium where the company that made the investment was based. The National Tax Service (NTS) levied additional corporate taxes against Lone Star and its entities, offsetting them with withheld taxes. Lone Star then filed a suit seeking cancellation of

LG Electronics is taking its smart factory technology beyond manufacturing and into renewable energy, partnering with Korea Water Resources Corp. to develop artificial intelligence systems for one of the country’s largest power facilities. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday at Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Plant’s cultural center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, to explore AI-driven operations at the facility, which has the world’s largest installed capacity among tidal power plants. The partnership will combine K-water’s power plant operating experience and data with LG Electronics’ expertise in smart factories, digital twins, robotics and AI, the companies said. Under the agreement, they will examine a digital twin-based integrated operating system that creates a virtual model of the plant and incorporates real-time information from generating equipment and surveillance cameras. The system could help forecast electricity output, simulate operating scenarios and diagnose equipment conditions, enabling operators to identify problems and assess performance before m

Orion has expanded production lines for its flagship Custard cream cakes across Korea, Vietnam and India to keep pace with surging domestic and international demand, the company said Thursday. Launched in Korea in 2004, Orion Custard is a soft, individually wrapped sponge cake with a custard cream filling. It has become the company’s second-biggest global pie brand after its flagship Choco Pie. Global sales rose 14 percent last year to 154 billion won ($116 million). China, Vietnam and India accounted for 76 percent of that total, and sales kept growing at a double-digit pace through September this year. The company added a production line in Korea in September and recently began running new lines in Vietnam and India. The expansion lifts Custard’s global production capacity to as much as 300 billion won a year, roughly double last year’s sales. Orion’s global research center at its headquarters in Korea oversees product development for each market. In Vietnam, the company sells flavors including tiramisu, raspberry, egg lava, melon and a reduced-sugar version. There is also a fl

A court on Thursday ruled against Young Poong Corp. in a shareholder derivative lawsuit seeking 837 billion won ($631 million) in damages from Korea Zinc Co. Chairman Choi Yun-beom and other company directors. Young Poong — a major shareholder in Korea Zinc — had filed the suit in November 2024, claiming Korea Zinc's directors had inflicted losses of 837 billion won on the company by making a tender offer involving the purchase of its own shares at 890,000 won apiece, when the actual price was around 560,000 won. The Seoul Central District Court ruled, however, that Korea Zinc's directors could not be deemed to have violated their managerial duties, given the steps they took before making the purchase. It also ruled that the action did not violate the Commercial Act or the company's articles of incorporation.

Nvidia is expanding partnerships with domestic component makers LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, strengthening its supply chain for physical artificial intelligence (AI) applications and next-generation AI infrastructure. LG Innotek unveiled a lineup of sensing solutions incorporating Nvidia's latest Holoscan Sensor Bridge (HSB) technology at the U.S. chipmaker's annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in Berlin on Tuesday (local time). The solutions include 3-megapixel camera modules and a multimodal vision system that combines multiple cameras and sensors, targeting applications in physical AI and robotics. Nvidia's HSB technology allows sensor data to be sent directly to AI computers, bypassing the central processing unit and potentially speeding up how robots and autonomous vehicles process information and make decisions. The partnership reflects growing demand for advanced sensing technologies as AI expands beyond software and data centers into physical environments, where machines must perceive and respond to their surroundings in real time. LG Innotek said it plans to expan

Korean cosmetics and other beauty product companies will seek export deals at an annual industry exhibition that opened Thursday in North Chungcheong Province, the provincial government said. The Cosmetics & Beauty Expo Osong Korea 2026 that runs through Saturday is underway in Osong, a district of Cheongju, 83 kilometers south of Seoul. The event aims to connect local companies with international buyers, according to the provincial government. "We will help K-beauty products reach global markets and attract international buyers to North Chungcheong Province, a hub for the industry, to facilitate export deals," Gov. Shin Yong-han said. More than 250 companies are participating in the business-to-business (B2B)-focused event, held under the theme "K-Beauty Osong Seeks Growth Along With Global Partners," the provincial government said. This year's expo, the largest to date, will give local companies opportunities to expand into overseas markets while allowing visitors to experience K-beauty products, Jang Woo-sung, director general of the provincial government's bureau of biologics, food a