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[Photo News] HD Hyundai's motor show debut
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Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Korea Herald
SK chief says China is biggest AI threat in manufacturing
GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — South Korea needs to deepen data collaboration with Japan to counter China's growing dominance in AI manufacturing, according to Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 'China is emerging as the biggest threat in AI in the manufacturing sector. In order for South Korea's manufacturing to survive, it has to outperform,' Chey said during a session on AI at the KCCI's annual summer forum in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Friday. Chey stressed that while Korea possesses a wealth of manufacturing data, China has far more. 'If their learning ability becomes faster and greater, Korea's manufacturing industry will inevitably be hit harder.' Emphasizing the importance of data — which Chey described as "food" to make AI strong and healthy — called for a partnership with Japan. 'Japan has a vast amount of manufacturing data. If the two countries can exchange and co-train this data, we can make a better AI,' he said. The session, titled 'AI for All, AI for Us,' brought corporate executives, startup founders and AI experts together to discuss the real-world application of AI business. Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a, who moderated the session, also highlighted the growing value of data, calling it the 'core competitiveness and resource in the AI era.' Chung added that the AI models have now surpassed the knowledge level of the average person and are capable of reasoning, which opens up new business opportunities using AI. Still, she cautioned that AI is only as strong as its data foundation. 'If the model doesn't study enough data, its performance will deteriorate and the probability of finding the right answer decreases,' said Chung. 'Even if the model has learned enough, if the bias is reduced, there is an issue of accuracy.' Chung also touched on the Industry Ministry's recently announced plans to expand more AI-powered factories in the country. "In return for free cloud services, US tech giants are said to have requested Korean factories to provide manufacturing data,' said Chung. She noted that the US, with its relatively weak manufacturing base, is trying to secure data on variables such as defect rate, temperature and humidity, to study their correlation. The session also featured Korean startups showcasing AI deployments across industries, including Washwat, a laundry service startup that uses AI to process 30,000 care labels daily to provide quality service for consumers. Another startup, Liner, provides a specialized AI search engine for academic research. Vuno predicts heart age, cardiac arrest risk and other diagnoses by AI studying X-rays, MRIs and other hospital data. Going forward, Chey emphasized the urgent need to cultivate talented AI professionals through education and by attracting high-skilled workers abroad for Korea to lead the AI race. 'We need more than 100,000 AI engineers for Korea to stay competitive. And potentially, one million or even 10 million AI experts in the future,' said Chey. To nurture such talent, Chey proposed making AI a required course in universities and tapping into global talent, as education alone takes time and does not always guarantee high-caliber engineers. 'One of the reasons why South Korea isn't growing is brain drain. We raise brilliant minds, only to see them leave for global opportunities,' he said, stressing the need for Korea to become more welcoming to overseas professionals. Chey also called for electricity prices to be cheaper and the adoption of differentiated pricing. Running an AI data center takes enormous power, he said, which is almost like a power plant, referring to SK Group's data center in Seoul's Gasan-gu. 'About 85 percent of the operating cost is just electricity bills,' he said. 'I have repeatedly asked for cheaper electricity.' He also advocated for a market-based electricity pricing system, which charges more for areas far from power generators and less for those nearby. Chey cited the oil prices liberalization in 1980s, which changed from standardized prices nationwide to market-based pricing, suggesting electricity should be the same.
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Korea Herald
Seoul shares end lower on retail selling amid tariff worries
Seoul shares closed lower Friday as investors remained cautious over US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 4.22 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 3,188.07. The main index rose 0.39 percent for the week. Trade volume was moderate at 389.98 million shares worth 11.84 trillion won ($8.5 billion). Decliners outnumbered gainers 589 to 303. The KOSPI reversed earlier gains after opening higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.52 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 0.75 percent. Individuals sold a net 340.72 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting stock purchases by institutions and foreigners of 61.85 billion won and 187.72 billion won, respectively. Trump recently notified key US trading partners of new tariff rates set to take effect Aug. 1 unless they offer sweetened terms in ongoing negotiations. Investors are awaiting second-quarter earnings results from major companies in the coming weeks for clues on the market's direction, while keeping an eye on further developments in US trade policy, analysts said. In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed. Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai fell 2.18 percent to 134,800 won, and state-run utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. declined 0.68 percent to 36,250 won. National flag carrier Korean Air dropped 0.95 percent to 25,950 won, and No. 1 shipping firm HMM shed 0.99 percent to 25,000 won. Among gainers, top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.24 percent to 210,500 won and market behemoth Samsung Electronics climbed 0.6 percent to 67,100 won. Leading steelmaker Posco Holdings gained 1.14 percent to 311,000 won, and leading battery firm LG Energy Solution rose 1.74 percent to 322,500 won. The local currency was quoted at 1,393.00 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 0.4 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
7 days ago
- Korea Herald
KT bets W1tr on cybersecurity over next five years
KT's plan tops rival SKT's W700b pledge following massive data breach South Korean telecommunications giant KT said Tuesday it will invest more than 1 trillion won ($724 million) over the next five years to fortify cybersecurity, amid heightened consumer concerns following a massive data breach at bigger rival SK Telecom. The planned investment surpasses SKT's 700 billion won pledge announced on July 4. SKT, the country's largest mobile carrier, made the commitment following a large scale cyberattack and subsequent data breach of customers' USIM data in April, prompting calls for an industrywide security overhaul. KT, however, said the investment was already in development prior to the SKT breach. Hwang Tae-sun, KT's chief information security and privacy officer, said during a media briefing in Seoul that a string of data breaches at major US carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, in 2023 prompted the company to take action. KT, the country's second-largest mobile carrier, currently spends more than 100 billion won annually on information security, the most among domestic telecom operators. Under the new plan, it seeks to nearly double its cybersecurity budget to about 200 billion won a year, starting next year. Breaking down the investment, KT plans to allocate about 20 billion won to strengthen cooperation with global tech firms for security partnerships. 'In terms of partnerships, we are not only considering Microsoft, but also exploring collaborations with other major global security firms, such as Google and Palo Alto Networks,' Hwang said. Another 340 billion won will go toward strengthening the company's 'zero-trust' architecture ― a cybersecurity model that no user or device is trustworthy by default and requires continuous authentication ― as well as enhancing infrastructure for AI monitoring systems. The largest portion of 660 billion won is earmarked for ongoing disclosures and public trust initiatives. The remaining 50 billion won will be used to expand cybersecurity workforce. Hwang said the company plans to increase the number of personnel on its in-house security team from the current 162 to 300 experts. At the media briefing, KT said it will launch a new version of its artificial intelligence-powered voice phishing detection service later this year. The AI-powered tool analyzes phone conversations in real time to detect potential fraud. The upgraded 2.0 version seeks to raise detection accuracy from the current 91.6 percent to 95 percent, potentially preventing over 200 billion won in damages. The company said it is also upgrading its AI-powered spam filtering system for text messages. The enhanced program will be able to detect and block emerging types of spam, including investment scam messages and those that mimic social media conversations.
