"Removing Semiconductor Barriers"... Industry and Science Vice Ministers Visit SoBuJang Companies Together

Kang Kyung-sung, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (center in the photo), and Lee Chang-yoon, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT (left in the photo), visited TESS, a semiconductor equipment company located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on the 5th to observe the equipment manufacturing process. Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science and ICT have begun full-scale inter-ministerial cooperation to foster the semiconductor industry.

On the 5th, according to the two ministries, Kang Kyung-sung, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Lee Chang-yoon, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, visited semiconductor equipment company Tess in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to hear on-site opinions for building a semiconductor industry ecosystem and discuss ways to strengthen policy support.

This joint visit is a follow-up measure to the public discussion meeting on strengthening semiconductor industry competitiveness, chaired by President Yoon Suk-yeol in January. The two ministries explained that it was intended to emphasize the commitment to jointly support the semiconductor industry by pooling government capabilities without inter-ministerial barriers.

Tess is a domestic semiconductor equipment company with competitiveness in plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) deposition and dry cleaning, which vaporizes chemicals onto wafers to form thin films, operating production and research facilities in Yongin and Hwaseong.

The government plans to support technology development in the semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) sector with more than 150 billion KRW this year.

Additionally, a joint mass production demonstration testbed project is being promoted to enable SoBuJang companies to conduct mass production trials of developed products. After a preliminary feasibility study, it aims to open in 2027.

Vice Minister Kang Kyung-sung said, "We will support domestic SoBuJang companies to possess world-class capabilities to build a robust semiconductor ecosystem resilient to semiconductor supply chain risks."

Vice Minister Lee Chang-yoon also stated, "We will actively reflect on-site voices during policy implementation and spare no support for semiconductor SoBuJang as a united government team."

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