Visit to SK Hynix Icheon Plant
"When semiconductor exports peak,
overall exports also peak"
Minister Anduk Geun of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy visited Pyeongtaek Port, a key site for automobile exports, as his first official activity after taking office, and on the 11th, he visited a semiconductor site to once again emphasize the importance of semiconductor exports.
On that day, Minister Ahn visited the SK Hynix Icheon plant, which produces semiconductors, the largest export item of Korea, to listen to the industry's difficulties and directly check the production line.
At the meeting held at the export site, Minister Ahn said, "Last year, semiconductor exports turned positive despite difficult conditions such as the global economic downturn and the semiconductor industry recession, laying the foundation for a leap forward in our exports," and added, "This year, with the recovery of the information technology (IT) industry and the rise in memory semiconductor prices, we are entering a semiconductor upcycle, and 2024 is expected to be the year of semiconductors." He further stated, "Semiconductors, as the number one export item, will serve as an opportunity to firmly establish an upward momentum for overall exports."
Minister Ahn also said, "In the year when semiconductor exports reached an all-time high (2022, $129.2 billion), the total export performance also recorded an all-time high (2022, $683.6 billion). The key factor determining this year's export performance is semiconductors," and presented policy directions by stating, "We will steadily focus on strengthening industrial competitiveness to maintain the super-gap by promptly establishing semiconductor clusters, fostering specialized personnel, and responding to the global trade environment, ensuring this leads to continuous export expansion and revitalization of the livelihood economy."
Minister Ahn also emphasized the necessity of large-scale proactive investment. He said, "This year as well, exports will be led at the forefront by semiconductors, actively responding to AI demand such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and DDR5," and added, "To maintain the semiconductor super-gap, it is necessary to continue large-scale proactive investments centered on Pyeongtaek and Yongin in Gyeonggi Province."
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to steadily implement record-level export support projects to back the expansion of export performance led by semiconductors, including ▲ trade finance of 355 trillion won, approximately 1 trillion won for export marketing, ▲ market diversification through expansion of trade networks, and ▲ expansion of the export workforce through nurturing export champions. In addition, through export site support teams and public-private joint export expansion meetings, the ministry will promptly resolve difficulties at export sites and continuously prepare support measures that companies can feel.
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