US chip export curbs on China to have limited impact on Korea: gov't

The headquarter of SK hynix in Gyeonggi Province is seen, July 25. Yonhap

The United States' latest export control package against China is expected to have only a limited impact on Korea's semiconductor industry, officials said Tuesday, citing local businesses' low dependence on the Chinese market in the sector.

The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security unveiled the package on the Federal Register overnight, which includes restrictions on exports of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to China.

"SK hynix currently ships most of its HBMs to U.S.-based Nvidia. Samsung Electronics exports some low-performance HBMs to China, but the portion is small compared to its overall sales," an official from the industry ministry said.

"Overall, we believe that its impact on Korean businesses will be minimal," the official added.

Another ministry official noted that export curbs on semiconductor manufacturing equipment are also expected to have a limited impact on Korean businesses.

"The export restrictions imposed by the U.S. are limited to cutting-edge equipment related to its national security," the official said, emphasizing that the curbs do not extend to general-purpose products.

"Although some Korean businesses may be affected by the restrictions, the impact on individual companies is also assessed to be minimal." (Yonhap)