LG Chem Targets 2 Trillion Won in Electronics Materials Revenue by 2030

*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an AI-based customized news recommendation and summarization service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six tailored news stories for each reader type.

1. HBM Revenue Triples… Samsung Operating Profit Nears 40 Trillion Won

- Key Summary: Powered by the global AI investment boom, Samsung Electronics' first-quarter HBM revenue surged more than 300% year-on-year. A major factor was a significant increase in supply volumes to Nvidia. In February this year, Samsung became the first in the world to begin mass production of sixth-generation HBM4 chips to be installed in Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerator "Vera Rubin." With commodity DRAM prices (based on DDR4 8Gb) rising roughly tenfold from the first quarter of last year, combined with surging high-margin HBM revenue, the possibility of first-quarter revenue exceeding 120 trillion won and operating profit surpassing 40 trillion won has been raised. Samsung Electronics is scheduled to announce its first-quarter earnings next week.

2. A 'Technology CEO's' Bold Bet… LG Chem to Double Electronics Materials Business by 2030

- Key Summary: LG Chem unveiled a mid-to-long-term vision to expand its semiconductor, automotive electronics and display materials revenue from the current 1 trillion won level to 2 trillion won by 2030. This is the first business plan since President Kim Dong-chun took office. The strategy involves consolidating and establishing a new upstream R&D organization under the Advanced Materials Research Center, and extending memory materials technology into AI and non-memory packaging materials. The company recently completed development of PID, a fine circuit interconnection material, and is collaborating with a global top-tier semiconductor company. President Kim also signaled his commitment to the company's growth by purchasing 336 shares of treasury stock (approximately 99.7 million won) through open-market transactions.

3. Won-Dollar Exchange Rate Enters 1,520-Won Range in Extended Trading

- Key Summary: Driven by geopolitical tensions originating in the Middle East and surging international oil prices, the won-dollar exchange rate climbed to 1,521.1 won in after-hours extended trading, approaching its highest level in approximately 17 years since the 2009 financial crisis. During regular trading hours, the rate's advance was limited by dollar selling from exporters, but in after-hours trading, the won's weakness was directly reflected amid broader weakness in major currencies. Analysts say the exchange rate level has shifted up a notch, as concerns over trade balance deterioration from high oil prices, rising global risk aversion, and large-scale net selling of equities by foreign investors all converged. Meanwhile, the yen-dollar exchange rate also broke through the 160-yen level, hitting its highest in approximately one year and eight months, before reversing course following verbal intervention by Japanese authorities.

4. On the Day "Talks" Were Disclosed, U.S. Special Forces Arrived… Iran: "We Attack Until They See Pain"

- Key Summary: While the possibility of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiation has been raised, military tensions have instead reached a peak. Hundreds of U.S. Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and other special operations forces have arrived in the Middle East, bringing the total U.S. military presence in the region to more than 50,000 — roughly 10,000 above peacetime levels. Since the outbreak of war, Iran has launched a record 1,641 missiles and is estimated to hold an additional 1,000 or more rounds in reserve, equivalent to half its stockpile. The possibility of discussions on Strait of Hormuz management and U.S.-Iran dialogue through Pakistan has been raised, but the trajectory of the war remains unclear.

5. Expansionary Fiscal Policy for Second Consecutive Year… Will Next Year's Budget Exceed 800 Trillion Won?

- Key Summary: With the government maintaining its expansionary fiscal stance, projections suggest next year's budget could surpass 800 trillion won. Applying a 5% growth rate to this year's base of 754 trillion won — comprising the original budget of 728 trillion won plus a 26 trillion won war-related supplementary budget — would bring next year's budget to 792 trillion won. The government has proposed a record-scale spending restructuring with 10% cuts in mandatory spending and 15% cuts in discretionary spending, but questions are being raised about the actual effectiveness of these reductions. With the national debt-to-GDP ratio likely to exceed 50% this year, calls for urgent fiscal soundness management are mounting.

6. Expanding Business Scope for Dominant Lead… Samsung SDS Establishes Virtual Asset IT Team

- Key Summary: Samsung SDS has established a "Digital Asset Consulting Group" within the Financial Consulting Team under its Strategic Marketing Division, formally launching its virtual asset IT business. The strategy prioritizes the STO market, where legislation has been completed, while also exploring stablecoin-related business opportunities. The company is aggressively expanding on multiple fronts, including entry into the data center DBO business, adoption of Nvidia's latest B300 GPUs, and participation in developing an AI chatbot for Government24. Revenue for this year is projected at 14.5651 trillion won and operating profit at 1.0233 trillion won, representing year-on-year increases of 4.6% and 6.9%, respectively.