The South Korean President's Office announced a 26 trillion won (approximately $19 billion) support plan on Thursday to boost the country's crucial semiconductor industry.
Under the plan, President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that the government intends to provide about 17 trillion won in financial support through the state-run Korea Development Bank to aid large-scale investments by semiconductor companies.
Yoon Suk-yeol mentioned that a 1 trillion won fund will be established to support equipment manufacturers and fabless companies, which design chips but outsource manufacturing.
Yoon Suk-yeol also requested the Ministry of Industry to propose innovative measures to enhance South Korea's competitiveness in the non-memory chip sector, according to the presidential office.
This updated support plan exceeds the 10 trillion won support target mentioned by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho earlier this month.
Although South Korea's chip industry accounted for 18% of the country's total exports in April, it still lags behind in some areas.
The presidential office stated that South Korea's market share in the fabless sector is about 1%, and Korean chip manufacturers still lag behind leading contract chip makers like Taiwan's TSMC.
South Korea, home to the world's largest memory chip manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, is constructing a massive chip cluster in Yongin, south of Seoul, hailed as the world's largest high-tech chip manufacturing park to attract chip equipment and fabless companies.
In January this year, Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to invest all possible resources to win the "chip war" and stated that tax credits for investments in the domestic semiconductor industry would be extended to boost employment and attract more talent.
