Prosecution raids Tmon, WeMakePrice, Qoo10 chief's home in e-commerce payment probe

SEOUL, August 01 (AJU PRESS) — Seoul prosecutors raided offices of Tmon and WeMakePrice and the home of the CEO of their parent company Qoo10 on Thursday as part of an investigation into the ongoing payment delay crisis at the two e-commerce platforms. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said prosecutors and investigators were sent to seven offices of Tmon, WeMakePrice and Qoo10 Korea. Search and seizure operations were also carried out at three homes of t

August 1, 2024

Payment delay crisis spreading to three other Qoo10-owned platforms

SEOUL, July 31 (AJU PRESS) - The payment delay crisis at Tmon and WeMakePrice, Korean e-commerce platforms owned by Qoo10, is now spreading to at least three other local units of the Singapore-based company. Interpark Books, Interpark Shopping, and AK Mall, all operated by Qoo10-affiliated Interpark Commerce, are suspending operations due to the financial fallout from Tmon and WeMakePrice, the companies said Wednesday. "Due to recent unsettled payments by Tmon and WeMakePr

July 31, 2024

Shinsegae to launch off-price retail store in Laos

SEOUL, July 31 (AJU PRESS) - Shinsegae Department Store said Wednesday it has signed a franchise agreement with a Laotian company to launch its off-price retail concept, Factory Store, in the Southeast Asian country next year. In partnership with Grandview Property, a subsidiary of Laos' largest private enterprise, Kolao Group, the first overseas Factory Store is scheduled to open in Vientiane's Kokkok Mega Mall in the first half of 2025. The Korean retail giant aims to l

July 31, 2024

Samsung to begin mass production of advanced AI chips in third quarter

SEOUL, July 31 (AJU PRESS) — Samsung Electronics announced Wednesday that it will begin mass production of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips in the third quarter of 2024 to meet the growing demand for high-performance chips used in artificial intelligence processors. During its second-quarter 2024 earnings call, Kim Jae-jun, vice president of memory strategic marketing, said Samsung plans to produce and supply 8-layer HBM3E products in the third quarter, with 12-lay

July 31, 2024

'Qoo10 diverted Tmon funds bypassing internal approval'

SEOUL, July 31 (AJU PRESS) - Singapore-based e-commerce company Qoo10 reportedly diverted funds from its Korean subsidiary Tmon bypassing due internal approval procedures. Tmon and sister company WeMakePrice are facing a financial crisis after failing to pay settlements to merchants on their platforms since early July. Qoo10 borrowed 20 billion won ($14.5 million) from Tmon in April to finance its $1.73 billion acquisition of Wish, a U.S.-based global shopping platform, according

July 31, 2024

Samsung's net profit soars nearly sixfold as AI boom boosts chip prices

SEOUL, July 31 (AJU PRESS) - Samsung Electronics reported Wednesday that its net profit surged nearly sixfold year-on-year in the second quarter, largely driven by a rebound in chip prices amid the artificial intelligence boom. Net income surged 471 percent to 9.84 trillion won ($7.13 billion) during the April-June period, a 470 percent increase from a year earlier. Operating profit jumped 1,462 percent to 10.44 trillion won during the same period, while revenue grew 23.44 perce

July 31, 2024

First Korean appointed World Bank vice president

SEOUL, July 31 (AJU PRESS) - Kim Sang-bu, a former Google executive, has been appointed the World Bank's vice president for digital transformation, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Kim, who previously served as Google's Asia-Pacific director of government affairs and public policy for consumer products, will begin his new role on Sept. 3. The position focuses on promoting economic development in developing countries through digital infrastructure, cyber

July 31, 2024

LG Chem rises to 4th place in global chemical company ranking: US magazine

SEOUL, July 31 (AJU PRESS) - LG Chem has climbed to fourth place in the global chemical company ranking by revenue, compiled by a prominent U.S. industry magazine. Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) reported in its July 19 edition LG Chem’s sales increased by 6.5 percent to $42.3 billion (59 trillion won) in 2023, defying the industry-wide trend of declining revenues. LG Chem jumped to fourth from last year's eighth, becoming the first Korean firm to enter the top

July 31, 2024

SK hynix unveils world's fastest graphics memory chip

SEOUL, July 30 (AJU PRESS) - SK hynix on Tuesday unveiled its next-generation graphics memory chip, GDDR7, boasting a 60 percent increase in operation speed and 50 percent improvement in power efficiency compared to its predecessor. With speeds of up to 32Gbps, expandable to 40Gbps in certain environments, GDDR7 can process over 1.5TB of data per second when integrated with the latest graphics cards, the company said. This is equivalent to processing 300 Full-HD movies in just one s

July 30, 2024

Court freezes assets, debts of e-commerce firms amid payment crisis

SEOUL, July 30 (AJU PRESS) — A Seoul court on Tuesday ordered a freeze on the assets and debts of struggling e-commerce platforms Tmon and WeMakePrice, just a day after they filed for corporate rehabilitation amid a growing payment delay crisis. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court issued a preservation order to prevent the debtors from disposing of their assets, and a comprehensive stay order to prevent creditors from enforcing their claims against the debtors. The court p

July 30, 2024