South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday said Japan’s export curbs on key materials used by South Korean technology firms could be prolonged and his government would sharply boost spending to help reduce their reliance on Japanese suppliers.
Japan last week said it would tighten restrictions on exports of three materials used in smartphone displays and chips, citing a dispute with Seoul over South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War II.
The growing row threatens to disrupt supplies of chips and displays by South Korea’s tech giants Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc, which count Apple Inc and other smartphone makers as customers and account for almost two-thirds of global chip production.
Photo: AP
“We can’t rule out the possibility that the situation would be prolonged, despite our diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue,” Moon said at a meeting with executives from South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates, including Samsung, Hyundai Motor Co and Lotte Group.
“It is a very regrettable situation, but we have no choice but to prepare for all possibilities,” Moon said, adding that the government would sharply increase spending to help firms source parts, materials and equipment domestically.
A “joint government-private sector response system is required as we are in an unprecedented emergency,” he said.
He also dismissed reported remarks by a politician in Japan that South Korea illegally shipped hydrogen fluoride imported from Japan to North Korea in contravention of international sanctions, calling them “groundless.”
Hydrogen fluoride, a chemical covered by the Japanese export curbs, can be used in chemical weapons.
“It is not desirable at all ... that Japan takes measures that deal a blow to our economy because of political purpose and makes remarks that link the measures to sanctions on North Korea,” Moon said.
South Korea’s bread-and-butter chip industry accounts for 20 percent of its exports.
“We will seek international cooperation as the measures will naturally have an adverse impact on the global economy,” Moon said.
Additional reporting by AFP
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
RSS