South Korea Invited to Join US-Led Chip 4

South Korea is considering joining the “Chip 4″ which is a semiconductor alliance led by the United States. This alliance intends to expand the US capacity in the tech industry and counter China’s increasing influence in international supply chains.

Recently, Seoul officials were requested to respond to the US government’s invitation to join Chip 4 by end of August and said that working-level discussions should begin shortly.

The US came up with the proposal for the Chip 4 back in March and includes four global chip major players such as Taiwan and Japan.

At present, the top actor in advanced chip making is the US, while the top actor for supplying key equipment and materials goes to Japan. On the other hand, Taiwan and South Korea have the best manufacturing capability.

With chips quickly growing to be crucial security assets, the Chip 4 alliance plans on recharging the supply chains of chips from production to distribution to other countries. This is also part of the US effort to keep a competitive edge in the tech industry and also to counter China’s increasing regional influence.

Taiwan and Japan are reported to have given their go-signal to be part of the alliance while South Korea has remained undecided mainly due to its economic ties with China.

South Korea is home to SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics which holds the spots of the world’s top two memory chip makers.

“We have continued talks with the US to bolster ties on chips but nothing has been decided yet,” says Choi Young-sam, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson of South Korea.

Source: Inquirer