S. Korea, Netherlands to codify 'semiconductor alliance' in summit document

▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) listens to Christophe Fouquet (2nd from R), chief business officer of Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML, as he tours a "cleanroom" manufacturing facility at the ASML headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on Dec. 12, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

S Korea-Netherlands-summit

S. Korea, Netherlands to codify 'semiconductor alliance' in summit document

By Lee Haye-ah

AMSTERDAM/SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the Netherlands will codify the establishment of a "semiconductor alliance" between the two countries in a joint statement to be adopted by President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Mark Rutte at their summit this week, Yoon's office said Tuesday (local time).

Under the new partnership, South Korea and the Netherlands will seek to maintain a lead in their chip technologies and jointly overcome supply chain risks, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters in Amsterdam.

Kim said the document will also call for establishing an annual economic security dialogue between the two countries' foreign policy authorities and a semiconductor dialogue between their industrial authorities to help realize the new "alliance."

"Following close consultations, we included the term 'semiconductor alliance' in the two countries' joint statement," Kim said. "The alliance establishment will serve to further connect the semiconductor supply chain ecosystems of the two countries, which are complementary."

Yoon and the Dutch prime minister are set to hold summit talks in The Hague on Wednesday as part of the president's four-day state visit to the Netherlands.

A senior presidential official said it was likely the first time for either country to expressly state the establishment of a semiconductor alliance with another nation in a joint statement.

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