LG chief visits Indonesia battery plant to inspect group's EV transition efforts
According to group officials, Koo toured the production lines of Hyundai LG Indonesia Green Power, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group, located near Jakarta, earlier this month.
The 320,000 square-meter facility, with an annual capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, is Indonesia's first EV battery cell plant and is a key pillar in LG's global battery production network.
During the visit, Koo called on employees to focus on securing differentiated competitiveness for LG's batteries, particularly in comparison with global rivals, and emphasized the importance of close collaboration with partners to overcome the slowdown in global EV demand growth.
As part of the visit, the LG chief also toured LG Electronics' production and research complex in Cibitung, West Java, where products such as TVs, monitors and signage systems are manufactured.
Since establishing a local research unit next to the Cibitung plant in 2023, LG Electronics has built an integrated base that connects research, production and sales operations, using it as a base for targeting the broader Southeast Asian market.
At LG Electronics' Jakarta sales office, Koo met with local executives to discuss customer needs, distribution trends and competitive dynamics in Southeast Asia.
LG has been ramping up efforts to tap into growth opportunities in the so-called Global South that includes India, Indonesia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, seeking to ride the economic momentum in these emerging markets. (Yonhap)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
![[Editorial] Korea's industrial drift](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fall-logos-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fkoreaherald.com.png&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
[Editorial] Korea's industrial drift
Samsung, LG's sharp earnings drop highlights deeper industrial weaknesses, rising trade risks Giants don't stumble quietly. The latest earnings from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, two pillars of South Korean manufacturing, signal not just a downturn but deeper structural cracks. Their second-quarter profits more than halved, falling far short of even the most conservative forecasts. While escalating US tariffs, rising logistics costs and fierce competition from China are the immediate culprits, the roots of this crisis stretch further, exposing an industrial model increasingly ill-suited to the global economy. The headline figures are stark. During the April-June period, Samsung's operating profit tumbled 56 percent from a year earlier, with LG's down nearly 47 percent. The damage extends beyond consumer electronics. Semiconductors, long the crown jewel of Korean industry, are now struggling, weighed down by softening demand and intensifying trade headwinds. US President Donald Trump has issued a clear warning: A 25 percent tariff on Korean imports will take effect in August unless Seoul makes sweeping concessions. Yet Korean exporters were already faltering before these new duties came into play. To see this downturn as merely a reaction to tariffs, however, would miss the larger story. South Korea's competitive erosion has been gathering momentum for years. Its share in global markets for semiconductors, automobiles, steel and shipbuilding has steadily slipped. Meanwhile, China's industrial ascent has been relentless, powered by vast state subsidies and an intense focus on scale, speed and technological edge. Korean firms, by comparison, remain tied to an outdated dependence on low-cost production and assembly exports. Despite rising research and development budgets, true breakthroughs have been scarce. The semiconductor sector underscores the gravity of this challenge. While Samsung and SK hynix contend with excess inventories and tepid demand, US-based chipmaker Nvidia has surged ahead, propelled by dominance in artificial intelligence chips. This week, its valuation surpassed $4 trillion — a symbolic marker of technological supremacy. Korean chipmakers, by contrast, face regulatory delays and sluggish infrastructure rollouts. Hold-ups in commercializing advanced memory technologies, such as high-bandwidth memory products, have only widened the gap. Meanwhile, China's semiconductor firms are accelerating their advance. Players such as YMTC and SMIC are closing in, backed by generous government subsidies and aggressive capital spending. In some cases, they are investing five times more relative to revenues than their Korean rivals. All of this is unfolding against a backdrop of escalating trade pressure from Washington. The latest US tariff regime is designed to extract concessions from allies, regardless of existing trade agreements. For Korean exporters, the risks are immediate, particularly in key sectors such as automobiles, steel and consumer electronics. What, then, is required? In the near term, Seoul must negotiate with clarity and precision, defending core export sectors while avoiding concessions that would further erode industrial competitiveness. This may involve politically sensitive trade-offs, including energy imports or enhanced defense cooperation. Yet in the longer term, the more important task is structural reform. Without a fundamental overhaul of its industrial model, South Korea will keep losing ground. That means accelerating investment in next-generation technologies like AI chips and electric vehicles, while dismantling regulatory barriers that stifle growth. Labor policies, including rigid limits on working hours in high-tech industries, must also be addressed. There is no margin for delay. Industry experts warn that the next five years represent a critical window for Korea's semiconductor industry. If missed, the consequences could be irreversible. South Korea needs a cohesive strategy that blends targeted state support, corporate agility and a clear-eyed assessment of global realities. Its leading firms must reinvent their business models and respond decisively to the twin pressures of trade disputes and technological disruption before the window closes.
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Korea Herald
Upcoming Southeast Asia Distribution Summit: Sungrow's Game-Changing Innovations Debut Soon
HEFEI, China, July 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading PV inverter and energy storage system provider, is set to host Sungrow Southeast Asia Distribution Summit on July 18, 2025, in Vietnam. Bringing together key partners and industry experts across the region, the summit will spotlight Sungrow's latest innovations, strategic vision, and deep commitment to Southeast Asia's clean energy transition. Centered on the theme " Robust Power, Robust Future", the summit serves as a dynamic platform for unveiling new solutions tailored to the unique needs of Southeast Asian markets. Attendees will get a first look at Sungrow's brand-new residential energy storage products, as well as its integrated residential and C&I energy systems that set new benchmarks in safety, efficiency, and smart operation. Key topics will include: With over 800MW PV shipments of distribution channel and 200,000 MLPE devices delivered across Southeast Asia in 2024, Sungrow continues to strengthen its localized approach — powered by over 120 local employees and 15+ service centers throughout the region. The company's "One Brand, One Solution" philosophy ensures integrated system compatibility, reliable performance, and streamlined operations for partners and customers alike. As a recognized global leader in PV inverters and energy storage systems, Sungrow is uniquely positioned to support Southeast Asia in navigating evolving regulatory frameworks, rising energy demands, and the pursuit of net-zero goals. Stay connected for updates: Follow Sungrow's social media channels for real-time announcements and event highlights. Join us July 18, as we accelerate the renewable energy transition together. About Sungrow Sungrow, a global leader in renewable energy technology, has pioneered sustainable power solutions for over 28 years. As of December 2024, Sungrow has installed 740 GW of power electronic converters worldwide. The Company is recognized as the world's most bankable PV inverter and energy storage company (BloombergNEF). Its innovations power clean energy projects across the globe, supported by a network of 520 service outlets guaranteeing excellent customer experience. At Sungrow, we're committed to bridging to a sustainable future through cutting-edge technology and unparalleled service. For more information, please visit:
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Korea Herald
LG's new AI slashes genetic testing time to under 1 minute
LG AI Research on Wednesday unveiled its next-generation artificial intelligence model, Exaone Path 2.0, which can diagnose diseases by analyzing patients' pathology images alone. This new AI model is expected to drastically reduce the time required for genetic testing from two weeks to under one minute, marking a step forward in the early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. Exaone Path 2.0 has been upgraded from the first edition, trained on higher-quality data. It offers enhanced capabilities in analyzing and predicting genetic mutations, gene expression patterns and subtle structural features within human tissues and cells, the AI research center, affiliated with tech giant LG Group, said. 'Using Exaone Path 2.0, we can reduce the time needed for genetic testing from over two weeks to under one minute,' said Park Yong-min, a lead researcher at LG AI Research. 'Doctors and pharmaceutical companies can quickly analyze pathology images of a patient's tumor tissue, identify which genes have mutated and match them to suitable targeted therapies in real time.' The latest model has been trained on multiomics data — including DNA and RNA — paired with pathology images, allowing it to understand both cellular structures and underlying biological mechanisms of disease, LG AI Research explained. As Whole Slide Images often span several gigabytes, AI models typically break them into smaller patches to reduce processing loads. This, however, can lead to 'feature collapse,' where broader structural context is lost. Exaone Path 2.0 addresses this by learning from both detailed patches and the full-slide view. Trained on over 10,000 WSI-multiomics pairs, it achieves a state-of-the-art 78.4 percent accuracy in predicting genetic mutations, LG explained. LG also introduced specialized models for diseases such as lung and colorectal cancer, which are designed to help clinicians identify eligible patient groups for targeted therapies while avoiding unnecessary tests. With the goal of pioneering clinical AI implementation, LG AI Research has partnered with Professor Hwang Tae-hyun and his team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, one of the top biomedical research institutions in the US. Together, they aim to develop a multimodal medical AI platform to redefine precision medicine, LG said. Unlike conventional approaches that first develop technologies and then seek clinical application, the research institute is working on a clinic-first strategy, focusing on solving real-world problems directly within clinical settings for AI development. 'Our goal is not simply to develop a new AI model, but to build an AI platform that can be actively used by medical professionals in real clinical settings to support diagnosis and treatment,' Hwang said. Hwang is a Korean-American scientist who leads the stomach cancer initiative under the US government's Cancer Moonshot program. He also founded the Molecular AI Initiative at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI and molecular medicine. With Hwang's team, LG AI Research said it plans to start with oncology and later expand its multimodal AI research into areas such as transplant rejection, immunology and diabetes. The research institute has also teamed up with the Jackson Laboratory in the US to discover biomarkers and develop treatments for Alzheimer's disease, and it is working with Professor Baek Min-kyung's team at Seoul National University to develop next-generation protein structure prediction AI.
