South Korea will avoid capitalizing on China’s ban on a U.S. chipmaker, seeing the move by Beijing as an attempt to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The South Korean government won’t encourage its memory-chip firms to grab market share in China lost by Micron Technology, which has been barred for use in critical industries by Beijing on national security grounds, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the topic is politically sensitive.
China is the biggest market for South Korea semiconductor firms Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and home to some of their factories. Their continued operations in China are dependent on licenses granted by Washington, giving the U.S. some leverage over Seoul’s decisions on how it balances its economic engagement with both countries.
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