[이데일리 김형욱 기자] As it is the shortest summit between Korea and the United States since taking office among Korean presidents, US President Joe Biden visited Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factory as the first step to confirm the importance of rebuilding the semiconductor supply chain. At the same time, it was suggested that the US-led semiconductor supply chain reorganization should actively highlight the economic loss suffered by Korean companies and demand expansion of cooperation.
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Gu Gi-bo, a professor of global trade at Soongsil University, interpreted in a wired interview with E-Daily that day, “President Biden’s visit to Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do (as soon as he visited Korea) means that the rebuilding of the semiconductor supply chain is just as important as it is.” In the process of cooperating with this, it is necessary to inform the U.S. of this and demand compensation as it suffered economic losses such as disrupting the advanced plan for SK Hynix’s Wuxi plant in China last year.”
More specifically, he said, “Our company has a high market share of memory semiconductors, but the foundry (system semiconductor consignment production) is still insignificant. You have to do it,” he advised.
Professor Koo also selected the nuclear power generation cooperation sector as a major task. As the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear power exclusion policy has weakened nuclear power export competitiveness, it is possible to raise competitiveness again by collaborating with the United States, which has source technology. He said, “The United States has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Eastern European countries for the construction of nuclear power plants. “He said.
He also said, “As the Moon administration has continued to promote small module reactors (SMR) despite the nuclear phase out, if South Korea and the United States develop technological cooperation in the SMR sector, the business will be able to maintain stable business regardless of regime change.” It is necessary to cooperate with the United States for SMR projects in both countries as well as export to third countries,” he added.
Prof. Koo suggested that, taking this summit as an opportunity, we should also explore the possibility of expanding cooperation in the battery sector, where we have strengths. He said, “As Tesla expanded its Chinese market, it used a lot of low-cost local batteries and that market grew a lot. The price gap between the three domestic battery makers has also narrowed significantly due to fluctuations in raw material prices,” he said. It will be necessary to discuss cooperation so that it can be installed and Tesla can actively use it,” he said.
Professor Koo also positively evaluated the participation in the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). IPEF is an economic and security consultative body that includes the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, and ASEAN (10 Southeast Asian countries). It is interpreted as a character to contain China. The Biden government announced the IPEF initiative in October last year, and the Korean government recently announced its intention to actively participate.
However, there are concerns about the Chinese side, Korea’s largest trading partner, as it is a check on China. In fact, in a phone conversation with Foreign Minister Park Jin on the 16th, Wang Yi, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister in charge of foreign affairs, conveyed concerns about the fundamental interests of the two countries to prevent the risk of a new Cold War and oppose camp confrontation. Prof. Koo said, “We are already participating in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), an economic cooperation group of 15 countries led by China, but no place is participating in the economic cooperation body with the United States. Participating in the IPEF is a good thing.”
In fact, Korea is a member of the RCEP, which took effect earlier this year along with China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and 10 ASEAN countries. Also, including Korea, several countries including Japan and Australia are included in the US IPEF initiative. Professor Koo added, “(When participating in IPEF), cooperation with countries that jointly participate in RCEP-IPEF can be strengthened.”
He suggested that it is preferable to respond to China with economic logic rather than political logic. Professor Koo said, “We have relied on China for much of our supply chain, but since last year, the supply of items such as automobile urea has not been smooth. I need to do it,” he said.
Prof. Koo continued, “The remarks made by Foreign Minister Wang Yi are a warning that we are leaning too far toward the United States in terms of politics and security. added.