ASML Holding NV and Samsung Electronics Co are to jointly spend 1 trillion won (US$760 million) to build a South Korean plant to develop cutting-edge semiconductor processing technology.
The plant is to use next-generation extreme ultraviolet equipment technology, available exclusively via ASML, that is used to produce high-end chips, the Veldhoven, Netherlands-based company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The new plant expands ASML’s presence in South Korea, where it already has four sites serving customers including Samsung. Geographic diversity is increasingly important with ASML and its unique technology at the center of a trade dispute between the US and China.
Photo: EPA-EFE
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol visited ASML’s headquarters with Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Tuesday to see the production of next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, a statement from the South Korean presidential office said.
Samsung executive chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won also joined the tour, the statement said.
Yoon has sought to strengthen technology ties with the US and other nations more aligned with Washington since taking office last year. He has also called for more efforts for South Korea to build technology clusters on its own soil to refine and produce cutting-edge products from semiconductors to electric vehicles, as a buffer against rising global competition for tech dominance.
The two nations also announced plans to establish a “Korea-Netherlands Advanced Semiconductor Academy,” which would allow students and workers in South Korea to have education opportunities in the Netherlands.
ASML, which is facing a severe labor shortage, depends on foreign talent to expand its business.
ASML is the world’s top maker of lithography systems, machines that perform a crucial step in the process of creating semiconductors.
It is the world’s only source of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines used by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Samsung and Intel Corp for the most advanced fabrication.
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