China Requests South Korea to Reject 'Semiconductor Equipment Export Controls'... "Decisions Should Be Made Independently"

After foreign media reported that the U.S. government demanded South Korea impose export control measures on semiconductor manufacturing equipment at a level equivalent to that imposed on the U.S., the Chinese government urged South Korea to "make the right judgment and autonomous decision."

On the 3rd (local time), Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated at a regular briefing, "China has consistently believed that trade and scientific and technological cooperation between countries should benefit the protection of global industry and supply chains and the stabilization of a free and open international trade order, rather than targeting third parties and their interests."

He added, "The United States politicizes, instrumentalizes, and weaponizes economic, trade, and scientific and technological issues to maintain its hegemony, willingly sacrificing the strength of its allies for this purpose," emphasizing, "The economic ties between China and South Korea are close, their industries and supply chains are highly interconnected, and the semiconductor industry has an upstream-downstream relationship."

He continued, "We hope South Korea makes the right judgment and autonomous decisions to protect the open, transparent, inclusive, and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system centered on the World Trade Organization (WTO) together with all parties, and jointly prevent the politicization and securitization of economic issues."

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that U.S. officials discussed semiconductor manufacturing equipment export controls related to China with the South Korean government in February and March. In October 2022, the U.S. announced export control measures banning the sale of equipment and technology capable of producing advanced semiconductors to Chinese companies, including logic chips (16nm to 14nm or below) using FinFET technology, DRAM below 18nm, and NAND flash with 128 layers or more.

The U.S. request is interpreted as effectively prohibiting the export of advanced semiconductor equipment and technology to China. According to a report by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, South Korea holds the number one market share for memory chips in China and ranks second in silicon wafer supply after Japan.