Korea's trade minister visited Samsung Electronics and SK hynix's key semiconductor production lines on Monday, emphasizing the importance of private-public cooperation to maintain Korea's lead in the semiconductor industry.
Kim Hyesung reports.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu visited Korea's top two chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Monday, stressing the need for Korea's semiconductor industry to maintain its global competitiveness.
Semiconductors have been the driving force of Korea's economy in recent years, hitting 61-point-three billion U.S. dollars in exports in the first half of this year, and accounting for over a fifth of Korea's total exports.
Without the sector, Korea's exports would have grown by a mere one tenth of a percent.
At SK Hynix's new chip factory in Icheon, Southeast of Seoul, Minister Paik encouraged the company's investment in its new M16 fabrication center that will be completed by 2020.
Minister Paik said the government will also support next-generation chip development that could succeed DRAM and Nand through investing in semiconductor design and foundry businesses and making Korea an attractive location for global device and material companies to relocate their production lines to.
The government is planning on investing up to 1-point-five trillion Korean won, or 1-point-three billion U.S. dollars in chip development over the next 10 years.
This comes amid concerns that semiconductors' two-year super cycle that started in late 2016 may come to an end, and that China is catching up with Korea in the global race in semiconductors.
At Samsung Electronics semiconductor production line in Pyongtaek, South of Seoul, the minister emphasized the importance of maintaining Samsung's lead in the sector through fifth generation Nand Flash and foundry businesses... saying demand for more efficient data processing will soar as fourth industrial revolution technologies like driverless cars and AI become more common.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.