[Exclusive] Korean Diplomat Met Morris Chang of TSMC for the Fourth Time

Lee Eunho, Former Head of the Taipei Representative Office, Met for Farewell
An Unprecedented Four Meetings in Two Years

Morris Chang, founder of TSMC (left), is meeting with Eunho Lee, then South Korean Representative to Taipei, who came to bid farewell on the 8th. They are taking a commemorative photo with a magazine cover featuring Chang as the cover model in the background. Photo by Taipei Representative Office website

The late attention is being drawn to the exchanges between Morris Chang, the founder of TSMC, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, and a Korean diplomat.

Lee Eunho, former head of the Korean Representative Office in Taipei, said in an interview with Asia Economy on July 28, "I visited Morris Chang again to bid farewell before returning to Korea." Lee met with Morris Chang a total of four times since his appointment in February 2023, with three of these meetings not disclosed to the public. Although the representative office was reluctant to make these meetings public, this time, an official commemorative photo was distributed in the name of the office, confirming their exchanges for the first time.

The photo was taken at Morris Chang's office and captures Lee visiting in person to greet him. Appointed as a special ambassador rather than through the traditional foreign service exam, Lee recently returned to Korea as part of the special ambassador recall following the inauguration of the Lee Jaemyung administration.

Morris Chang is known to generally avoid meeting with Koreans due to the competitive relationship between the two countries. Despite the Korean Representative Office in Taipei and Morris Chang's private office being located in the same building, it is said that there had been no prior exchanges. On the representative office's website, under "Head of Mission Activities," there is only one mention of Morris Chang, which is the meeting with Lee. The only other Korean figure maintaining a relationship with Morris Chang is Chey Taewon, chairman of SK Group.

Lee is not a career diplomat but comes from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, with expertise in trade and strategic material control. The local diplomatic community has also regarded it as unusual for Morris Chang to have met with Lee several times in succession.

Their meetings are believed to have started from their shared background as holders of doctoral degrees in science and engineering. Lee holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. The representative office's website also refers to Morris Chang as "Doctor Chang." Lee commented, "Even at over 90 years old, Morris Chang remains in good health," and added, "This time as well, we exchanged many views on the development history and future prospects of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry." He also mentioned that he bid farewell to key figures in Taiwan's IT sector, including those from Acer.

The fact that figures who were previously competitive and even hostile towards Korea met with Lee to bid him farewell is seen as an indication of potential changes in Korea-Taiwan relations going forward.

Lee cited the relationship between SK Hynix and TSMC as an example, saying, "Korea and Taiwan are in a competitive relationship, but there are also mutually complementary aspects," and advised, "In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), Korea should benchmark how Taiwan has achieved such rapid growth."

Meanwhile, the fact that leaders of Taiwan's rapidly rising semiconductor companies have met in succession with the head of the Korean Representative Office in Taipei has significant implications for the selection of his successor. It demonstrates that, due to changes in the economic environment, it is necessary to appoint someone with expertise in technology and science rather than focusing solely on politics or diplomacy.