Possibility of Traveling to the US Next Month... Lee Jae-yong's Foundry Moves Draw Attention (Comprehensive)

'Chip 4' Semiconductor Collaboration and 450 Trillion Investment
80,000 Jobs and Pending Issues Including Support for Busan Expo

Samsung Electronics Foundry Plant Site in Taylor, Texas, USA. (Photo by Samsung Electronics) [Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] There is speculation that the next move of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who visited the Giheung semiconductor research and development (R&D) site immediately after being reinstated by the Liberation Day special pardon, will be a trip to the United States. This comes as there is a possibility that he will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Samsung Electronics' second foundry plant in Taylor, Texas.

According to business circles on the 24th, the groundbreaking ceremony for Samsung Electronics' second plant under construction in Taylor is expected to be held as early as next month. Preparations for the ceremony have been completed, with only administrative procedures remaining. Since the smooth landing of the U.S. foundry facility is one of the group's core businesses, it is widely expected that Vice Chairman Lee will attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

Vice Chairman Lee currently attends court once a week due to trials related to Samsung C&T's accounting fraud and Samsung Biologics' unfair merger allegations. However, no trials are scheduled during the Chuseok holiday next month. As Lee could travel during this period, there is speculation that the groundbreaking ceremony could be held in line with his schedule.

Samsung Electronics will hold a "Taylor Construction Site Job Fair" in Taylor, Texas, from the 31st of this month to the 1st of next month to secure construction personnel before the groundbreaking. It is generally known that about 20,000 to 25,000 workers, including temporary staff, are needed to build one production line in a factory.

Lee's trip to the U.S. is expected to be a busy schedule. Since the government announced it will attend the Chip4 (Korea, U.S., Japan, Taiwan) preliminary meeting, attention is focused on Lee's voice in addressing pressing issues such as semiconductor supply chain restructuring and semiconductor cooperation with the U.S. Recently, Samsung Electronics' DS (semiconductor) division recruited Kwon Hyuk-woo, former Director of the U.S. Trade Department at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, as an executive in charge of government relations, actively working to manage risks through smooth networking with local governments. It is reported that local government relations personnel have already been reinforced. However, Samsung did not provide any specific response when asked whether there was coordination between the government’s preliminary meeting schedule and Samsung’s business.

Timing is also critical. According to Taiwanese media Digitimes and various foreign outlets yesterday, Taiwan's TSMC is expected to start mass production of 3nm (nanometer; 1nm is one billionth of a meter) chips from September and has secured Apple, a big tech company, as its first customer. It is anticipated that TSMC's 3nm chips will be applied to the M2 Pro chips released from the end of this year to the first half of next year. The M2 Pro chip is expected to be installed in Apple's flagship products such as the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and the high-end Mac Mini. This means Samsung has no time to lose.

The fact that Vice Chairman Lee's role is not limited to managing semiconductor business amplifies interest in his "speed race." Even after inspecting the Taylor foundry plant, there are still pending issues to resolve. It is a matter of interest whether the announced investment of 450 trillion won over five years can be smoothly executed and whether 80,000 new jobs can be created, contributing to the national economy. It is also well known that the group is actively supporting the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's efforts to host the 2030 Busan World Expo. There are continuous rumors about his promotion to chairman and appointment as a registered executive to strengthen leadership within the group. Issues such as restoring the control tower organization necessary to accelerate management decisions like large-scale mergers and acquisitions (M&A), restructuring the ownership governance to support this, and the year-end executive meeting are all interconnected. This is also why Samsung and the business community have paid close attention to Vice Chairman Lee’s reinstatement.

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