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| President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after a press conference on their summit at South Korea's presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
Leaders vow stronger chip ties for economic security
By Nam Hyun-woo
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed on Thursday to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, underscoring the importance of the two countries in lowering vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain.
The leaders also made a series of agreements to enhance bilateral ties in the fields of politics, security, economy and culture during their summit at the presidential office in Seoul. This was the second summit between Yoon and Rutte following one that took place on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit in Spain in June.
"We are now living in an era where the economy is security and security is the economy. At this juncture, we agree that our partnership for economic security is of utmost importance," Yoon said during a press conference after the summit.
"The Netherlands, a powerhouse in semiconductor equipment production, and Korea, the leader in chip fabrication, agreed to step up cooperation to complement each other. Such a partnership between our countries, which are key players in the global chip supply chain, will also contribute to stabilizing the overall global supply chain," Yoon said.
The elevation of bilateral relations came after the two countries forged "a future-oriented and comprehensive partnership" in 2016, as the growing supply chain vulnerability tests South Korea's prowess in chip manufacturing.
For South Korean chipmakers, such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Dutch semiconductor equipment firm ASML plays an essential role. It holds a 91 percent share of the global market for lithography machines and is the world's sole producer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines that project circuit patterns onto silicon wafers used to manufacture chips.
The leaders also underscored the need to bolster semiconductor ties in their joint statement. They stressed "the significance of further strengthening existing collaboration between the two countries' semiconductor" industries and expressed their intention to "support the private sector in order to sustain a resilient supply chain" in that field.
"By working together on new technologies and on safeguarding our economic security and our resilience, it is of great importance that we protect the value chains for our advanced technologies, such as, the president already mentioned this, semiconductors," Rutte said.
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| President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte before they hold a summit at South Korea's presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of South Korea's presidential office |
Yoon and Rutte also discussed the two countries' potential for cooperation in the nuclear power industry, and agreed to establish a communication channel related to the Netherlands' new nuclear power plant project. In January, the Dutch government announced a plan to build two 1,500-megawatt nuclear reactors.
The two leaders noted that bilateral relations are now expanding from economic ties to strategic and security cooperation.
During the press conference, Yoon noted that the two countries will enhance their partnership in responding to new challenges such as North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the war in Ukraine and global supply chain disruptions.
Rutte also said he appreciates South Korea's "strong stance" on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and added that the Netherlands strongly supports the South in the face of North Korea's provocations.
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