South Korea

Intelligence for Better Decision Making

SK Group Achieves Record Export Growth on Surging Semiconductor Sales
Nov. 26, 2025 | Firms

SK Group’s export performance has surged this year, driven by strong semiconductor sales and strategic investments.

**Through the first three quarters, SK Group shipped goods worth 87.8 trillion won abroad, a nearly 20 percent increase from the same period last year.**
This pace puts the company on track to achieve roughly 120 trillion won in exports by year’s end, surpassing last year’s total of 102.5 trillion won and establishing a new record high.

**SK Hynix emerged as the primary engine of this growth, accounting for 65 percent of the group’s exports through September, up from 54 percent a year earlier.**
Strong demand for high-value memory semiconductors, especially high-bandwidth memory (HBM), drove SK Hynix’s export revenues to 56.7 trillion won in the first three quarters and underpinned the group’s overall performance.

**This chip-driven expansion also boosted South Korea’s national export figures.**
In the third quarter alone, the country’s exports reached $185 billion—the highest quarterly total since 2010—with semiconductors contributing $46.6 billion of that amount and cementing advanced memory products at the center of its trade success.

**SK Hynix’s financial turnaround amplified its tax contributions and market standing.**
Corporate tax payments jumped to 4.3 trillion won through September, compared with just 94 billion won in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the company’s market capitalization climbed to 379 trillion won, making it the second-largest domestic firm by market value.

**Since acquiring SK Hynix in 2012, Chairman Chey Tae-won has driven a restructuring and diversification strategy across the group.**
SK Group now targets high-growth sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy and biotechnology, plans to invest 128 trillion won domestically by 2028, and aims to hire more than 8,000 new employees each year.
Samsung Affiliates Implement 2026 Executive Promotions Amid Shifting Market and Strategic Priorities
Nov. 26, 2025 | Firms

Samsung's electronics affiliates have finalized their 2026 executive appointments, reflecting variations in scale and strategic focus across the conglomerate’s businesses.

**Samsung Electronics elevated 161 individuals—51 to vice president, 93 to senior vice president, one to Fellow, and 16 to Master—reversing a five-year decline and adding 24 more promotions than in 2025.**
The rise in semiconductor performance and advances in AI and robotics drove many of these appointments. Samsung Electronics heavily promoted R&D personnel in its Device Experience division, naming Lee Yun-su to oversee personalized data platforms and GPU AI optimization, Choi Go-eun to lead autonomous robotics, and Lee Seong-jin to advance language AI technology. In the Visual Display division, Kim Dae-young earned a vice presidency for work on quantum dot and OLED displays. In Device Solutions, Samsung advanced several senior vice presidents in their 30s, reflecting a merit-based generational transition. The company plans to announce organizational restructuring and detailed role assignments following these promotions.

**At Samsung SDS, management promoted 10 executives—two to vice president and eight to executive director—to drive AI platforms, agent-based services, and the cloud business.**
Selection criteria emphasized long-term potential and digital transformation capabilities, relying on proven results at domestic and international sites rather than short-term metrics. Kim Jung-wook now leads strategy and marketing consulting as vice president, and Lee Tae-hee heads the AI research team in the same rank. The new executive directors will oversee manufacturing consulting, software competitiveness, generative AI, cloud services, ERP systems, logistics digitalization, and talent management. Samsung SDS aims to accelerate its enterprise AI transformation business by integrating generative AI and agent technologies into corporate workflows and unifying cloud migration with logistics digitalization.

**Samsung Display promoted 23 executives—eight to vice president, 13 to director, and two to Master—under a “selection and concentration” strategy to bolster technological competitiveness and secure future revenue streams.**
Most appointees came from the Small- and Medium-sized Display Business division, focusing on OLED materials, foldable panel mass production, IT panels, and optical analysis tools for XR devices. New vice presidents in Process Development, Global Operations, and Module Development improved OLED performance, production efficiency, and foldable display manufacturing. Continuing its diversity efforts, Samsung Display elevated Ahn Na-ri to vice president of analytical technology and Jang Ha-yeon to director of legal affairs and intellectual property.

**In contrast, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics reduced their promotion counts amid performance challenges and market uncertainties.**
Samsung SDI, after four consecutive quarters of losses, promoted eight executives—the fewest since 2017—focusing on technical expertise and leadership to navigate volatile conditions. Samsung Electro-Mechanics also selected eight executives, prioritizing technical talent capable of responding to global uncertainties and positioning the company to capitalize on anticipated AI-driven demand improvements.

**The affiliates’ leaders retained their presidential roles, signaling a preference for stable top-level leadership as they pursue performance recovery and strategic transformation.**
Meanwhile, LG Group plans its executive changes for November 27, and Hyundai Motor Group expects to maintain continuity over major management overhauls in light of external uncertainties.

Monitored Intelligence for South Korea - Nov. 26, 2025


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Gov't delegation travels to Vietnam to seek urban rail cooperation, project opportunities

Yonhap | English | News | Nov. 26, 2025 | UndeterminedBizdev-Partnering

A South Korean government delegation from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport traveled to Vietnam on November 25 to explore urban railway cooperation opportunities for South Korean firms. The four-day trip includes meetings with senior Vietnamese transport officials and industry representatives, including Nguyen Tuong Van, Vietnam's vice minister of construction.

On November 27, the delegation will host the Korea-Vietnam Urban Railway Cooperation Forum in Hanoi, with approximately 100 metro officials and industry representatives from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang attending. South Korean rail organizations, such as Korea Railroad Corp. and Seoul Metro Corp., will present proposals on technology cooperation, training programs, and project implementations.

In March 2025, South Korea and Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for railway cooperation, underscoring ongoing collaboration efforts between the two countries in the urban rail sector.

LG화학, '전고체 배터리' 상용화 핵심 기술 개발

LG Chem develops core technology for commercialization of solid-state batteries

ZD Net Korea | Local Language | News | Nov. 26, 2025 | UndeterminedTech Development/Adoption

LG Chem announced on November 25, 2025, that it has developed a technology that significantly enhances the performance of solid-state batteries by uniformly controlling the particle size of the solid electrolyte, a critical component of these batteries. The research, published in Advanced Energy Materials, was conducted jointly with Professor Tae-Seop Song's team at Hanyang University and is seen as a major step toward the commercialization of solid-state batteries.

Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte found in conventional lithium batteries with a solid electrolyte, which offers safety and high energy efficiency benefits. However, non-uniform particle sizes in the solid electrolyte can create gaps within the battery cell, leading to performance degradation. LG Chem’s new spray recrystallization method produces uniformly sized spherical electrolyte particles by spraying the electrolyte solution into fine droplets and evaporating the solvent, improving lithium-ion movement and reducing internal gaps.

The uniform electrolytes created by this method adhere better to the cathode material, resulting in about a 15% increase in basic battery capacity and a 50% increase in high-rate discharge capacity, a critical metric for high-power device applications. LG Chem intends to use this technology to accelerate solid electrolyte development and push further toward solid-state battery commercialization.

Shin Hak-cheol, LG Chem's Vice Chairman, highlighted the achievement as a resolution of a core challenge for commercializing solid-state batteries and stated the company’s commitment to strengthening its competitiveness in next-generation battery technologies and leading the global market.

“희토류 필요하면 여기 붙어”...중국, 미국없는 자리서 20개국과 결속

If you need rare earths, come here... China forges ties with 20 countries in the absence of the US

Maekyung | Local Language | News | Nov. 26, 2025 | Shifting Geopolitical Alliances

China has launched the Green Minerals International Economic and Trade Cooperation Initiative (Green Minerals Initiative) at the 2025 G20 summit in Johannesburg, attended by countries including Indonesia, South Africa, Cambodia, Nigeria, and Myanmar, but notably without the United States. The initiative aims to strengthen economic and trade cooperation on critical minerals, especially rare earths, by promoting sustainable supply, responsible mining, technology exchange, capacity building, and expanded investment and financial cooperation. China emphasizes the greening of the entire lifecycle of critical minerals, from mining to recycling, with participation also from international organizations like UNCTAD.

Premier Li Chang highlighted the importance of global resource security and the peaceful use of critical minerals while urging caution regarding military applications. The initiative is seen as a strategic move by China to reinforce its dominant position in the global critical minerals market and counter the US-led alliance of South Korea, Japan, and Australia, which seeks to reduce dependence on Chinese supplies. The absence of the US at the summit and China's emphasis on cooperative responsible trade can be viewed as efforts to ease supply-chain pressures amid growing geopolitical tension over rare earths.

President Xi Jinping's earlier call in 2024 for international cooperation in green minerals has now materialized into this initiative, signaling China's intent to solidify its resource network and maintain influence in advanced industries like electric vehicles, batteries, and semiconductors. China also linked this initiative to broader calls for cooperation on climate change, energy, and food security, criticizing rising unilateralism, protectionism, and trade restrictions—implicitly targeting US policies. Premier Li further called for reforms of international bodies such as the World Bank, IMF, and WTO to foster a more equitable and open global economic order aligned with the trend toward multipolarization.

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