President Moon expresses pleasure over strengthening semiconductor supply chain cooperation (Comprehensive)

Attended the 'Hanmi Business Roundtable'... "Korean companies are the optimal partners to accelerate vaccine distribution"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] On the 21st (local time), President Moon Jae-in attended the 'Korea-US Business Roundtable' held at the Commerce Research Library of the U.S. Department of Commerce and stated, "I am pleased that today the two countries are strengthening semiconductor supply chain cooperation based on mutual complementarity."

President Moon said, "If Korea and the U.S. join forces like this, American companies will secure a stable parts supply chain, and Korean companies will pioneer broader markets and grow together."

In particular, President Moon emphasized the significance of strengthening economic cooperation between Korea and the U.S. by announcing large-scale local investment plans of Korea's four major groups: Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon said, "Samsung Electronics is investing $17 billion to build a new semiconductor factory in the U.S., and SK Hynix is constructing a research and development center in Silicon Valley. The world-renowned American chemical company DuPont will establish an advanced semiconductor materials R&D center in Korea to further strengthen Korea's semiconductor supply chain."

President Moon evaluated, "In the battery sector, SK and LG have recently been investing facilities worth $4.3 billion in the U.S., and through joint ventures or sole investments with American automobile companies, they are pursuing an additional $14 billion in new investments. All are world-class companies."

President Moon explained, "The U.S. and Korea are each other's most important investment partners. As of last year, Korean companies invested 27% of their overseas investment in the U.S., and 25% of foreign investment coming into Korea is from American companies."

President Moon expressed expectations, "Recently, Hyundai Motor invested $7.4 billion to establish an electric vehicle production base in the U.S. Active investments between the two countries will play a significant role in the development of new industries and job creation."

President Moon emphasized the importance of economic cooperation between Korea and the U.S. amid the vulnerability of the global supply chain revealed by the COVID-19 crisis.

President Moon said, "The fields expected to have the greatest synergy are semiconductors, batteries, and the bio industry. American companies lead the global market in cutting-edge fields such as semiconductor design, artificial intelligence, big data, and future vehicles, while Korean companies possess the best technology and production capacity in semiconductor manufacturing and batteries, which are core technologies of the low-carbon economy.

President Moon emphasized, "Korean companies have the world's second-largest biopharmaceutical production capacity. They will be the optimal partners to accelerate global vaccine distribution together with American companies leading COVID-19 vaccine development."

Meanwhile, the Korea-US Business Roundtable was attended by U.S. participants including Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce; Edward Breen, CEO of DuPont (via video); Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm; Renee James, CEO of Ampere Computing (via video); Steve Kiefer, GM International representative; and Stanley Erck, CEO of Novavax.

On the Korean side, Minister Moon Seung-wook of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; SK Chairman Chey Tae-won; Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam; Hyundai Motor President Gong Young-woon; LG Energy Solution President Kim Jong-hyun; Samsung Biologics President John Rim; and SK Bioscience President Ahn Jae-yong were present.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, "As we recover from the pandemic, our two countries will reap more benefits by strengthening this cooperation," adding, "Especially in areas important to our future economy, we will see greater benefits."

Secretary Raimondo explained, "These areas include providing vaccines through medical and health companies, semiconductor supply chain companies, and electric vehicle and battery companies."

Minister Moon Seung-wook of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, "The Korean Ministry of Industry and the U.S. Department of Commerce will actively support policies to promote active mutual investment by companies and to continuously create cooperative outcomes. In particular, to strengthen competitiveness in core industries such as semiconductors and to establish a stable supply chain, we have agreed to expand and develop a more practical economic cooperation partnership through joint R&D, workforce training and exchange, and standards cooperation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.