Seoul wants to strengthen cooperation with Amsterdam, Washington and Tokyo in the field of semiconductors

South Korea’s president said Seoul wants to strengthen cooperation with Amsterdam, Washington and Tokyo on semiconductors, a key industry disrupted by competition between the United States and China.

South Korea intends to “significantly strengthen cooperation in the field of semiconductors with important countries such as the Netherlands, the United States and Japan,” Yoon Seok-yeol said before the start in a written interview with the France-Presse news agency. on Monday during a state visit to the Netherlands.

Microchips are used in everything from weapons to cars to refrigerators. Microchips are the backbone of the modern global economy, with South Korea accounting for about 60% of global supplies, Yoon emphasized.

“As competition between countries and regions intensifies due to the hegemony of new technologies, the semiconductor industry is becoming more important than ever from a strategic point of view, making this visit to the Netherlands especially significant,” he said.

“Semiconductors are the basis of cooperation between Korea and the Netherlands,” both of which are major semiconductor manufacturers, and “stable and sustainable growth of the global semiconductor industry is in the fundamental interests of both countries,” the South Korean president added.

The Netherlands recently joined the United States and Japan in imposing restrictions on the export of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment in an effort to prevent China from acquiring cutting-edge chips that could be used in weapons and high technology.

The restrictions have angered Beijing, which has accused Washington of “technological terrorism.”