Japan has approved shipments of a high-tech material to South Korea for the second time since imposing export curbs last month, two sources said yesterday ahead of talks by government officials this week to resolve a dispute stemming from their wartime past.
Photoresists were cleared for Japan’s exports to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in South Korea, which are crucial for the tech giant’s advanced contract chipmaking production, the people said.
A Samsung spokeswoman and a South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy spokeswoman declined to comment. A Japanese official in charge of the issue was not available for comment.
Photo: EPA-EFE
A Blue House official confirmed the exports at a briefing, but said that “uncertainties” would remain until Japan completely removes the tighter export controls it has instituted.
“Tokyo’s latest export approval is positive for the local industry, but I don’t see Japan’s move as a conciliatory message to South Korea,” another South Korean government official said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Japan last month tightened controls on shipments to South Korea of three materials used in chips and displays, threatening to disrupt the global tech supply chain.
Japan also announced a plan to remove South Korea’s fast-track export status from later this month.
Earlier this month, Japan gave the green light to the export of photoresists to Samsung for the first time since it imposed the restrictions.
Samsung shares yesterday ended up 1.95 percent, leading the wider market’s gain of 1.05 percent.
Japan’s move comes ahead of today’s meeting between Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Kono and South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha in Beijing.
“This is a signal that Japan would not further escalate tensions. This is positive in that it creates an atmosphere for talks,” said Ahn Duk-geun, a international studies professor at Seoul National University.
However, he said he does not expect a breakthrough in the stalemate, citing wide differences over how to resolve forced labor issue.
“I hope there will at least be a handshake,” Ahn said.
“We will have to actively express our position, but it is a very difficult [situation],” Kang said at an airport in Seoul before leaving for Beijing.
Separately, South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to nurture the local carbon fiber industry, as part of efforts to reduce dependence on Japan imports for high-tech materials.
Moon attended an event by South Korean firm Hyosung Advanced Materials Corp to announce a 1 trillion won (US$827.7 million) investment by 2028 in expanding production of carbon fiber, one of the items potentially subject to tighter export controls and used to make parts of hydrogen vehicles and aircraft.
Currently, South Korean firms rely on Japan’s Toray Industries Inc and others for carbon fiber supplies, industry officials say.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day