South Korea, US lobby groups discuss ties in chip tech, supply chain

SEOUL: The semiconductor lobby groups of South Korea and the United States discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in technology research and maintaining a stable supply chain, Seoul's industry ministry said on Friday.

The US-Korea Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue Semiconductor Forum, held in Washington, was organised following an agreement between the two countries in April last year to create an event to explore ways to expand ties in the sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

During the event, Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, as well as officials from leading chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc., Intel Corp. and IBM Corp., shared ideas on expanding cooperation in different areas of the industry, reports Yonhap news agency.

The Korea Semiconductor Industry Association and the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association also signed a memorandum of understanding to hold the forum regularly and seek business partnerships in emerging sectors, including artificial intelligence.

"South Korea plans to expand investment in global research and development projects, and support bilateral technology cooperation through the Global Industrial Technology Cooperation Centers," Ahn said.

Ahn added that the country will also promote exchanges of experts with master's or doctoral degrees to address the workforce shortage in the chip industry.

Meanwhile, industry ministry said it has launched technology cooperation centres at four US universities to expand bilateral ties in cutting-edge industries.

The Global Industrial Technology Cooperation Centres set sail at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Purdue University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The ministry plans to increase the number of such centres to 12 by 2027.