Government-Semiconductor CEO Hotline... Fostering Korean-Style Nvidia

Minister of Industry Holds Meeting with Semiconductor CEOs
Attended by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Others
Fabless Development Plan to Be Established in First Half of the Year

As major countries such as the United States, China, and Japan compete to lead semiconductor supremacy, the government and domestic semiconductor CEOs have decided to establish a hotline to respond as one team.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Minister An Deok-geun held a meeting with semiconductor business leaders to assess the impact of the recent intensification of the global semiconductor market on the domestic semiconductor industry and discuss countermeasures. At this meeting, Minister An decided to open a hotline with semiconductor company CEOs for joint public-private responses to current issues such as artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors.

Attending the event from the semiconductor industry were Kyung Kye-hyun, CEO of Samsung Electronics; Kwak No-jung, CEO of SK Hynix; Ahn Tae-hyuk, CEO of Wonik IPS; Lee Jun-hyuk, CEO of Dongjin Semichem; Jung Hyun-seok, CEO of Soulbrain; Kim Ho-sik, CEO of LOT Vacuum; and Park Young-woo, President of Exicon.

The participating companies agreed to work with the government to achieve this year’s semiconductor investment target of 60 trillion won and export target of 120 billion dollars. Along with this, they proposed continuous improvements to the investment environment, including the establishment of investment subsidies, expansion of infrastructure support for semiconductor mega clusters, and the construction of testbeds for materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang).

Minister Andeok Geun of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is presiding over the 'Semiconductor Strategy Meeting' on the 26th at the EC Room of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, attended by semiconductor company representatives and related association officials, including Kyung Kyehyun, CEO of Samsung Electronics, Kwak Nojung, CEO of SK Hynix, Ahn Taehyuk, CEO of Wonik IPS, Lee Junhyuk, CEO of Dongjin Semichem, Jung Hyunseok, CEO of Soulbrain, and Kim Jeonghoe, Vice Chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The government announced plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 27th among Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), power generation companies, demand companies, and the government to ensure rapid power supply to the Yongin semiconductor complex. Additionally, it plans to prepare measures to expand additional investment incentives for advanced industries such as semiconductors, which will be reflected in the 'Comprehensive Support Plan for Advanced Strategic Industry Specialized Complexes' to be announced in March.

To foster SoBuJang, fabless (semiconductor design specialists), and talent development, the government will supply 24 trillion won in policy funds and promptly promote the SoBuJang mass production testbed (minifab), which has been selected as a project subject to preliminary feasibility study. A public-private joint demonstration fab promotion organization will also be established for this purpose.

The government plans to enhance fabless competitiveness by establishing a 'Semiconductor Design Verification Center' this year and creating an 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) Semiconductor Collaboration Forum' within the semiconductor industry association. Furthermore, a 'Fabless Promotion Plan' aimed at the birth of a Korean-style Nvidia will be prepared within the first half of the year.

Minister An stated, "To shorten the project period of the semiconductor industrial complexes currently being developed, we will expedite related permits and approvals and significantly expand incentives to promote corporate investment. To this end, we will also promote the establishment of a dedicated task force (TF) within the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to advance semiconductor specialized complexes.”

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