Yoon: "AMAT Investment Attraction... Great Contribution to Korea-US Economic, Industrial, and Technology Alliance"

Meeting with Gary Dickerson, AMAT Chairman, at Yongsan Presidential Office... "Will Serve as a Strong Anchor for a Robust Alliance"

On the morning of the 7th, President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Gary Dickerson, Chairman of Applied Materials (AMAT), the world's largest semiconductor equipment company, at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Gary Dickerson, chairman of the U.S. company Applied Materials (AMAT), on the 7th and stated, "AMAT's investment, which holds a very important position in the domestic semiconductor industry supply chain, will greatly contribute to strengthening the economic, industrial, and technological alliance between Korea and the United States."

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon received Chairman Dickerson, who is visiting Korea, at the Yongsan Presidential Office, saying, "Following Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, yesterday, having Chairman Dickerson today makes both precious guests," and added, "This is a meaningful meeting symbolizing the Korea-U.S. alliance."

AMAT, the world's number one semiconductor and display equipment company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for investment with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Gyeonggi Province in July. Subsequently, during President Yoon's New York visit on September 22, an 'Investment Reporting Ceremony and North America Investment Roundtable' was held, where AMAT reported its investment to establish a semiconductor equipment R&D center.

This meeting was arranged to discuss follow-up measures regarding this matter. At the meeting, President Yoon expressed gratitude to Chairman Dickerson for establishing the R&D center in Korea and evaluated, "This investment will greatly contribute to strengthening the economic, industrial, and technological alliance between Korea and the United States." He also stated, "Close cooperation between Korea-U.S. semiconductor companies and governments will serve as a strong focal point for the alliance," emphasizing, "The semiconductor industry is a core foundation of our government's key policies such as the Digital Platform Government, digital transformation, and AI industry promotion. The bridge established between AMAT and Korea will greatly contribute not only to Korea but also to global prosperity and peace."

Chairman Dickerson remarked, "Over the past 35 years, every time I visited Korea, I was very impressed to see Korea's science, technology, and culture being reborn through innovation and developing to world-class levels." He continued, "The semiconductor ecosystem cannot be created by a single country alone, so international cooperation is essential. In this context, I am very pleased that our investment contributes to strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance."

Meanwhile, the government views the attraction of AMAT's R&D center investment as completing the supply chain of the global 'Big 4' semiconductor equipment companies in Korea, including ASML (remanufacturing and training center), Lam Research (R&D center), and TEL (R&D center). Accordingly, it is expected to be an important opportunity for Korea to leap forward as a global semiconductor manufacturing and innovation hub.