① On Thursday, South Korea's presidential office announced a 26 trillion won (19.05 billion US dollars) support package for the country's semiconductor industry; ② Among them, the government plans to provide financial support for the chip industry worth about 17 trillion won through the Korea Industrial Bank; ③ Additionally, President Yoon Suk-yook also stated that he hopes to strengthen South Korea's competitiveness in the non-memory chip field.
Financial Services Association, May 23 (Editor: Zhou Ziyi) On Thursday (May 23), South Korea's presidential office announced a major plan to provide a support package for the country's critical semiconductor industry worth 26 trillion won (US$19.05 billion).
According to the presidential office, this package includes specific investment financial support of 17 trillion won, that is, the government plans to provide financial support programs worth about 17 trillion won to the chip industry through the Korea Industrial Bank to support large-scale investment by semiconductor companies.
President Yoon Seok-yook indicated that a fund of 1 trillion won will also be set up to support fabless enterprises and equipment manufacturers.
The funding involved in this support plan is more than double the 10 trillion won forecast by South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-moo two weeks ago. At the time, Choi Sang-moo revealed that South Korea is preparing a chip investment and research support program worth more than 10 trillion won for chip materials, equipment manufacturers, and waferless companies throughout the semiconductor supply chain.
“Chip warfare”
Currently, the US, Europe and other regions are spending tens of billions of dollars to attract chip companies such as TSMC and Intel, and promote local manufacturing projects by these companies. At this time, South Korea is also beginning to take action, and this support plan is a response to calls for support from the local chip industry.
Korea is currently the world's largest producer of memory chips. The country owns the world's top memory chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. At the same time, South Korea is also trying to play a more active role in the wider chip field. According to April data, South Korea's chip industry accounted for 18% of the country's total exports in April.
This time, Yoon Seok-yook also asked the Ministry of Industry to propose innovative measures to strengthen Korea's competitiveness in the non-memory chip field.
Furthermore, the country is currently building a large chip cluster in Yongin, south of Seoul. The South Korean authorities call it the world's largest high-tech chip manufacturing complex.
In January of this year, Yoon Suk-yue decided to pour all possible resources to win the “chip war.” He said he would extend tax credits for investment in the domestic semiconductor industry to promote employment and attract more talents.