Since President Yoon Seok-yeol of South Korea took office, Japan-Korea relations have been developing rapidly. For a long time, the semiconductor industry, which is South Korea's core industry, was supported by Japanese equipment and material manufacturers. In the semiconductor industry, Japan, which is strong in equipment and materials, and South Korea, which is strong in manufacturing, had a mutually complementary relationship. In 2019, Japan tightened export controls on three semiconductor materials to South Korea. In response, the Moon Jae-in administration strengthened its opposition. It promoted domestic production in the materials and equipment sectors that are highly dependent on Japan. As a result of promoting domestic production, some general-purpose materials have been replaced. Meanwhile, trade statistics show that South Korean companies such as Samsung continued to use Japanese materials and equipment.
Even in the midst of the ongoing political conflict between Japan and South Korea, semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics purchased Japanese manufacturing equipment and precision materials to mass-produce semiconductors. Currently, the ever-evolving semiconductor industry faces global competition. Close research activities with external companies are essential to develop cutting-edge semiconductors and establish mass production technology. Samsung Hwaseong Campus, located on the outskirts of Seoul, is a research facility that can be said to be the brains of the semiconductor division. At the Hwaseong Campus, you can often see technical personnel from Japanese manufacturing equipment manufacturers and material manufacturers. Engineers from Tokyo Electron, Canon, Murata Manufacturing, and others are racking their brains to develop next-generation semiconductors. Samsung Electronics is accumulating detailed improvement measures with manufacturing equipment manufacturers and precision chemical raw material manufacturers for each process. In the future, it seems that the two countries will deepen their collaborative relationship more than before, such as through joint development of next-generation semiconductors.
Japan and South Korea have concerns. However, they often share the same interests. They share the same values of democracy and free markets. They also share the same strategic interests in the global economy. Japan and South Korea have 98% of the same votes on UN resolutions. They are almost in step with each other at the UN. Japan and South Korea rely on imports from overseas for resources. Both Japan and South Korea depend on other countries for resources and have similar industrial structures. In this context, some companies are looking into joint procurement of raw materials. Korea Gas Corporation has established a power generation company with equal investment from Japan's Chubu Electric Power. Korea Gas Corporation will work with the power generation company, which is also equally invested by Chubu Electric Power and others, to ensure stable procurement of LNG. There are still issues of concern between Japan and South Korea, but we would like to actively build a cooperative relationship in areas that there is common interest.