alchedek

‘alchedek’, an English magazine produced in Korea, contains information on Korea’s Economy, Business, Enterprise, Industry, and Culture.

Vietnam, ASEAN’s New Growth Hub: • Vietnamese and Korean Companies Innovating for the World

Seven Minutes to Act: How YookSong Turned 36 Years in Fire Safety into an EV Fire Solution for the Global Market • The thought of an electric vehicle catching fire in an underground parking garage is terrifying. Fires that begin in battery packs are difficult to control with conventional suppression methods, and smoke spreading through an enclosed space can quickly threaten lives. Even when fire crews are dispatched immediately after a fire is reported, several minutes pass before they reach the scene. Fire does not wait. Since its founding in 1990, YookSong Co., Ltd. has devoted 36 years to fire safety. Its answer to that critical gap is EFSS (EV FIRE SAFETY SYSTEM), an automated system designed to prevent an EV battery fire from spreading. It activates in the first moments of a fire, cooling the battery without waiting for human intervention. The system has been installed at sites across Korea, from major corporate facilities to large apartment complexes, and is now being exported to markets across Southeast Asia, beginning with Vietnam. We spoke with Se-Hun Park, CEO of YookSong, about his years traveling to worksites across Korea, the technology that buys precious time in a fire, and the people who have helped build the company.

Bringing Korea’s AI Technology and Experience to Vietnam’s AI Sovereignty Drive: KICC HN Lays the Groundwork for a Full-Stack AI Cooperation Model • Vietnam has made AI sovereignty a core national priority. By 2030, it aims to rank among Southeast Asia’s top three countries in AI research and development, train 50,000 AI and semiconductor specialists, and develop a sovereign AI model tailored to the Vietnamese language along with national AI infrastructure. As this agenda takes shape, the focus of Korea–Vietnam cooperation is rapidly shifting from manufacturing and software development to AI. The Korea IT Cooperation Center in Hanoi (KICC HN), operated by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), has long served as a support hub for Korean ICT companies entering Vietnam and establishing a local presence. Beginning in 2026, the center is expanding its role to encompass AI semiconductors, AI infrastructure, AI talent, and AI startups. Building on AI cooperation agreements with Vietnamese government agencies, it is also preparing to become part of the Korea AI Innovation Network (KAIN) and provide end-to-end support spanning technology validation, legal and regulatory advice, localization, and investment and export facilitation. Min-Seuk Kim, Head of KICC HN, aims to establish a full-stack AI cooperation model in Vietnam in which proven Korean AI technologies are validated locally and ultimately lead to contracts and investment—one he hopes will become the most successful in Southeast Asia.

Architecting the Future of Digital Entertainment: How POPS is Synchronizing High-Margin Optimization, Human-Centric AI Transformation, and Regional Synergy Across Southeast Asia. • Esther Nguyen founded POPS in 2007 with a clear legal and entrepreneurial mission: to develop the digital entertainment ecosystem and build a scalable copyright monetization framework across Vietnam and the broader Southeast Asian region. A qualified lawyer by training, she has guided the company from its early days as a digital music pioneer into a multi-country digital media and technology enterprise. Under her leadership, POPS has successfully optimized content distribution, digital rights management, and asset monetization across platforms like YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and proprietary Over-The-Top (OTT) services, raising institutional capital from premier global investors including TV TOKYO Corporation, Eastbridge...