The government will actively support the development of system semiconductors through fiscal, tax, financial, and regulatory measures, including a new investment of 280 billion won in system semiconductors this year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Hong Nam-ki visited the Pangyo System Semiconductor Design Support Center on the 6th and conducted an on-site inspection and held the 9th Innovation Growth BIG3 Promotion Meeting.

The 9th Innovation Growth BIG3 Promotion Meeting was attended by semiconductor-related business leaders, including Choi Chang-sik, Vice Chairman of DB HiTek, Heo Yeom, CEO of Silicon Mitus, Kim Hyeong-jun, Head of the Next-Generation Intelligent Semiconductor Business Unit, Na Jun-ho, Managing Director of Silicon Works, Lee Jang-gyu, CEO of Telechips, Park Yong-geun, Vice President of SK Hynix, Shim Sang-pil, Vice President of Samsung Electronics, and Jang Jae-ho, Managing Director of Hyundai Mobis.

At this event, Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki stated, “The semiconductor industry is an overwhelmingly key industry in our economy, but it played a decisive role in recovering the GDP level before the crisis in the first quarter of this year in particular, and its importance and proportion are expected to continue to grow further as we transition to a digital economy and the advent of a semiconductor super cycle.”

He also said, “Our semiconductor industry needs a groundbreaking approach that is groundbreakingly different from the past in order to maintain the ultra-gap in memory semiconductors and secure competitiveness in system semiconductors. We are currently preparing the K-Semiconductor Belt Strategy to leap forward as a comprehensive semiconductor powerhouse, and we plan to announce it soon.”

This day's meetingRegarding the key policy tasks related to semiconductor investment in finance, taxation, finance, and regulation, the government decided to first review support measures for infrastructure such as electricity and water for the development of semiconductor clusters and to more actively support jointly utilized facilities such as the AI Semiconductor Design Support Center.

In addition, to encourage companies to actively secure core technologies and expand mass production facilities, we decided to actively consider expanding tax deductions for R&D and facility investment by creating a separate track outside of general and new growth engine technologies.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki said, “We are currently supporting 550 billion won through the System Semiconductor Coexistence Fund and Growth Fund, but we will additionally support 280 billion won by newly creating 100 billion won for the Small and Medium Business Semiconductor Fund, 100 billion won for the DNA+BIG3 Mother Fund, and 50 billion won for the System Semiconductor Coexistence Fund within this year. We will also review creating additional long-term low-interest loan programs for facility funds (Korea Development Bank).”

Regarding system semiconductor personnel, a plan to train 17,000 people by 2030 (4,700 master's and doctoral degrees, 8,700 practical personnel, etc.) has been announced and is being promoted, but the industry has also requested that the training scale be more than doubled, including in the memory field, and that the number of students in semiconductor-related departments (currently 1,856 per year) be increased.

In addition, with regard to automotive semiconductors, we decided to actively utilize the self-quarantine exemption system for vaccinations (two weeks after the second vaccination) that went into effect on May 5th, following support for expedited customs clearance of parts (USD 480 million, 11,237 cases) and expedited testing upon entry and exit (23 businesspeople), to provide maximum support to ensure that companies procuring parts do not experience any inconvenience.

In addition, 14 items that can be commercialized in a short period of time were discovered, and for about 10 items for which matching between supply and demand companies has been achieved, we decided to quickly support the small business mass production performance evaluation project through a business announcement in May.

In the mid- to long-term, we will submit the collaboration models, such as infotainment APs, that we have discovered so far to the Small Business Competitiveness Enhancement Committee in May.After confirmation, we will push for rapid development and complete the establishment of the 'Mid- to Long-Term Automotive Semiconductor Technology Development Roadmap', which began in April, without a hitch by the end of this year.