The government will provide low-interest loans and other support worth 8.8 trillion won ($6.45 billion) for the semiconductor industry by next year to strengthen the competitiveness of the advanced sector, the finance ministry said.
This initiative is part of the implementation plans for a comprehensive support package valued at 26 trillion won, which President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in June to bolster the country’s key industry in response to increasing global competition.
Under this plan, the government aims to allocate 4.7 trillion won by 2025 through low-interest loans for semiconductor manufacturers and funding programs to support fabless companies and chip material suppliers, to enhance the overall industry ecosystem, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The government will set aside an additional 1.7 trillion won of the budget next year to conduct massive research and development projects to secure advanced technologies in chip clouding and packaging fields, among other things, as well as to implement programs to nurture talent.
Some 2.4 trillion won will be extended for infrastructure construction for the envisioned semiconductor cluster in the city of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
South Korea is working to build the world’s largest chip cluster in Yongin, where Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc., and other chipmakers plan to invest 622 trillion won combined to build 16 new fabs.
“The government will best support the chip industry so as for chipmakers to lead the global market”, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said during an economy-related ministers’ meeting.
“We will actively take part in discussions in the National Assembly for enacting a special legislation for the semiconductor industry. Our focus will also be on beefing up measures to protect startups from technology theft”, he added.