"South Korea's Semiconductor Survival Means Technology"… Kim Ki-nam and Park Jung-ho Emphasize Talent Acquisition (Comprehensive)

Kim Ki-nam, Chairman of Samsung Electronics SAIT
"Must Understand Technology Trends and Identify Turning Points"

Park Jung-ho, Vice Chairman of SK Hynix
"Need to Pay Attention to Demand for AI Chatbot Services"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] "South Korea's semiconductor industry is taking on challenges. The competition in technology will intensify in the future. There is no royal road. Technological innovation is the only means of survival."

Kim Ki-nam, Chairman of Samsung Electronics SAIT (formerly the Comprehensive Technology Institute), made these remarks on the afternoon of the 15th at the academic symposium commemorating the opening of the Doheon Academy held at the Korea Press Center.

On the same day, Chairman Kim delivered a keynote speech on the topic of "Current Issues and Future of the Korean Semiconductor Industry." He emphasized that advanced technological competitiveness is essential for the bright future of South Korea's semiconductor industry. This means that the next-generation growth engines must be secured through continuous technological innovation.

Kim Ki-nam, Chairman of Samsung Electronics SAIT, delivering the keynote speech
Photo by Yonhap News

Chairman Kim said, "You must always understand the flow of technology and know the inflection points," adding, "If employees understand this better than the CEO, the company becomes excellent." He continued, "New technologies must be pursued challengingly and persistently," citing Samsung Electronics' overcoming the D-RAM limit at 100 nanometers by creating the RCAT (Recess Channel Array Transistor) as a representative example.

Following Chairman Kim, Park Jung-ho, Vice Chairman of SK Hynix, who also delivered a keynote speech, placed emphasis on preparing for future technologies. He explained that with the recent ChatGPT craze, AI chatbot services are emerging as new demand sources, and SK Hynix is responding by developing next-generation products such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

At the core of the technological competitiveness highlighted by Chairman Kim and Vice Chairman Park is talent. Chairman Kim stated, "To have advanced technological capabilities, excellent talent is necessary," and added, "We must achieve economies of scale through cutting-edge technologies developed by outstanding personnel."

The semiconductor industry is making efforts such as establishing contract departments in collaboration with universities. However, Chairman Kim explained that the high rate of science and engineering talents entering medical schools is causing difficulties in operation. Vice Chairman Park also pointed out the importance of talent acquisition, saying, "I heard that students who recently enrolled in semiconductor departments did not come."

Jung-ho Park, Vice Chairman of SK Hynix / [Photo by SK Hynix]

The fact that the domestic semiconductor industry is memory-centric is a long-term concern. This is why both Chairman Kim and Vice Chairman Park emphasized the need for a sound semiconductor ecosystem. Chairman Kim said, "It might be better to first consider what can be easily obtained," and added, "Limited resources should be well utilized in the order of foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing), materials and components, and fabless (semiconductor design)."

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Park expressed to reporters on his way out of the event that the possibility of large-scale semiconductor production cuts is low. He also shared plans to focus on responding to regional risks arising from the U.S. restructuring its semiconductor supply chain centered on its own country.

Vice Chairman Park said, "Considering the investment capacity during a downturn, we should look at options such as building fabs jointly with other countries and allies." He also left room for future discussion, saying, "We are remapping global fabs again, and when the time comes, we can talk about plans and responses at events like MWC."

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