South Korea denies report on discussing chips as first US investment
A report said the project was facing uncertainty after Washington sought investment in US memory-chip facilities.
Seoul denied a local media report suggesting that the government was considering semiconductor production as the first US investment under its $350 billion commitment. The presidential Blue House confirmed the report was "not true" in a text message on August 18, without providing further details on the talks between Seoul and Washington.
The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that the first project, initially scheduled for August announcement, faced uncertainty after the US requested investment in memory-chip facilities. This news came from a closed-door trade meeting held at the Blue House on August 13, according to unidentified ruling-party officials. Previously, Seoul had earmarked the energy sector as its main US investment target.
Trade meeting attendees largely dismissed the US memory-chip proposal as impractical, given Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's already pledged $880 billion for chip and data center projects primarily in South Korea's southern Honam region. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan traveled to Washington on August 16 to address last-minute concerns about the US investment package.
He stated that while practical issues had emerged, Seoul and Washington remained committed to finalizing talks and announcing investments as late as late August.
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
