South Korean Officials: Facing Competition, South Korea Is Striving to Maintain Chip Industry Advantage

TechFlow reports, on August 6, South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-kwan stated that unless South Korea helps chipmakers accelerate investment, it faces the risk of losing its advantage in the semiconductor industry due to intensifying global competition. Kim Jeong-kwan stated that by the end of this decade, the global memory chip market size is expected to grow to approximately $1 trillion, and speed will become a decisive competitive advantage. He added that since semiconductor customers rarely switch suppliers once they adopt a product, South Korea cannot afford to lose market share amidst rapidly growing demand.

Kim Jeong-kwan pointed out that South Korea currently accounts for about 65% of the global memory chip market. He also warned that there should not be a push for a broader redistribution of industry profits. Kim Jeong-kwan stated that rather than discussing how to distribute windfall profits in the chip industry, policymakers should focus on helping companies reinvest funds. (Jin10)