News

S. Korean companies-Westinghouse settle nuclear tech IP dispute; Green light for nuclear exports?

2025/01/17 17:00

Meanwhile in a rather promising development. A deal to end a nuclear technology dispute has been sealed between the Korea Electric Power as well as its nuclear power unit and the U.S.'s Westinghouse Electric. Park Kun-woo has details. A two-year-plus nuclear power dispute has come to an end. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea Electric Power Corporation said on Friday that they have resolved their intellectual property dispute with the U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Company. They added this will pave the way for stronger cooperation in the global nuclear energy market, while enhancing their competitiveness. The dispute began after Westinghouse filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court against KEPCO and KHNP in 2022, for "unauthorized" sharing of nuclear technology that it claimed to have the intellectual rights to. However, the South Korean companies maintained that there were no legal violations as they successfully reverse-engineered the technology. Details of the resolution between the two sides were not disclosed on Friday due to a mutual confidentiality agreement. But pundits say they may have agreed on collaborating in other regions such as Europe, where Westinghouse has traditionally operated, among others. They also expect the end of the dispute to provide a green light for Korea to secure a nuclear power project in the Czech Republic after it was selected as the preferred supplier last year. Also on Friday, Industry Minster Ahn Duk-geun welcomed the agreement, saying he looks forward to deeper cooperation with the U.S. This comes after a recent MOU on nuclear power exports and cooperation in related sectors between the two countries was signed last week. One expert also spoke about the significance of the agreement. "The two countries were in some sort of tangled relationship but started communicating and even signed the MOU. This means Korea can now negotiate with the Czech Republic more comfortably without any noise." He added that it will also be a chance to remove potential uncertainties when exporting and operating nuclear reactors in other regions in the future as well. Park Kun-woo, Arirang News.

KHNP, KEPCO resolve IP dispute with Westinghouse, paving way for stronger nuclear energy cooperation

2025/01/17 10:00

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea Electric Power Corporation have resolved their intellectual property dispute with U.S.-based Westinghouse. The agreement, announced Friday, ends the legal dispute and paves the way for stronger cooperation in the global nuclear energy market. With KHNP the preferred bidder for a nuclear power project in the Czech Republic, the deal is expected to boost their chances of securing the project. KHNP said it aims to strengthen its position in the global market by forming a new strategic relationship with Westinghouse.

S. Korea's ICT exports reach new high in 2024 on record chip exports

2025/01/14 20:00

Korea's exports of information and communication technology products soared almost 26 percent on-year in 2024. Our correspondent Lee Soo-jin covers this latest data. South Korea's tech shipments reached a new annual high in 2024, led by record chip exports. Data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed that ICT exports last year came to 2-hundred-35 billion dollars, up nearly 26 percent compared to the same month the year before. This marks a fresh high on a yearly basis, surpassing the previous record set in 2022, as ICT exports have continued to see year-on-year rises for 14 straight months. The ministry attributed this mainly to outbound semiconductor shipments reaching an all-time annual high of 1-hundred-42 billion dollars in 2024, boosted by robust global demand for AI-related products. That's up a whopping 42-point-5 percent compared to the year before. Chip exports also surpassed the 10-billion dollar mark for the eighth consecutive month, as shipments of memory chips, including high-bandwidth memory semiconductors, showed significant growth. And a shift to a double-digit growth in mobile phones as well as large demand for solid-state drives also contributed to 2024's record-high tech exports. By country, exports to Vietnam and the United States, which showed a sluggish performance in 2023 due to a slump in the global economy, both recorded their highest-ever export value last year. China, South Korea's top export destination, accounted for over 40 percent of Korea's total ICT exports last year, on the back of strong chip demand. As for exports in December alone, shipments reached more than 22 billion dollars, up more than 24 percent year-on-year. But it wasn't just December that saw solid monthly exports, as shipments surpassed the 20 billion dollar mark for five straight months starting last August. And exports in the last month of the year were also bolstered by chip shipments, with both memory and system semiconductors showing significant increases compared to the previous year. Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.

Hyundai, Kia's eco-friendly car exports record all-time high in 2024

2025/01/14 17:00

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have set a new record for exports of eco-friendly vehicles. According to the two automakers on this Tuesday they exported over 7-hundred-7-thousand eco-friendly cars last year UP three percent on year. This is the highest figure ever and includes EVs, hybrid EVs, and fuel cell EVs. According to company officials the latest surge was driven by a 44-point-6 percent on-year jump in exports of hybrid EVs as well as efforts to better respond to global market trends.

S. Korea's ICT exports reach new high in 2024 on record chip exports

2025/01/14 17:00

In other news. Korea's exports of information and communication technology products soared almost 26 percent on year in 2024. Our correspondent Lee Soo-jin covers this latest data. South Korea's tech shipments reached a new annual high in 2024, led by record chip exports. Data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed that ICT exports last year came to 2-hundred-35 billion dollars, up nearly 26 percent compared to the same month the year before. This marks a fresh high on a yearly basis, surpassing the previous record set in 2022, as ICT exports have continued to see year-on-year rises for 14 straight months. The ministry attributed this mainly to outbound semiconductor shipments reaching an all-time annual high of 1-hundred-42 billion dollars in 2024, boosted by robust global demand for AI-related products. That's up a whopping 42-point-5 percent compared to the year before. Chip exports also surpassed the 10-billion dollar mark for the eighth consecutive month, as shipments of memory chips, including high-bandwidth memory semiconductors, showed significant growth. And a shift to a double-digit growth in mobile phones as well as large demand for solid-state drives also contributed to 2024's record-high tech exports. By country, exports to Vietnam and the United States, which showed a sluggish performance in 2023 due to a slump in the global economy, both recorded their highest-ever export value last year. China, South Korea's top export destination, accounted for over 40 percent of Korea's total ICT exports last year, on the back of strong chip demand. As for exports in December alone, shipments reached more than 22 billion dollars, up more than 24 percent year-on-year. But it wasn't just December that saw solid monthly exports, as shipments surpassed the 20 billion dollar mark for five straight months starting last August. And exports in the last month of the year were also bolstered by chip shipments, with both memory and system semiconductors showing significant increases compared to the previous year. Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.