Chairman Kim Ki-nam and concurrently president of Samsung Electronics. 

Looking back to Oct. 2, 2008, the Korean semiconductor industry made history by exporting $10 billion worth of semiconductors abroad. Thanks to endless technology innovation, the semiconductor industry emerged as the No. 1 exporting item in 1990, overcoming challenges associated with being latecomers to the global semiconductor industry. 

In the first nine months of this year, the industry chalked up $47 billion in exports, making it the biggest export in the country. 

The Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) hosted a ceremony at the COEX InerContinental Hotel in Seoul on Oct. 29 to mark the eighth anniversary of Semiconductor Day, created in celebration of Korea’s exporting $10 billion worth of semiconductors in 2008. Among some 500 people on hand at the event were Deputy Minister Park Il-joon of the Office of Industrial Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), and KSIA Chairman Kim Ki-nam, concurrently serving as Samsung Electronics president. 

“The Korean semiconductor industry’s fast growth is owed to Korean companies’s leading technologies. We have to redouble efforts to develop next-generation technologies that will guide the future,” said KSIA Chairman Kim. “The Korean semiconductor industry is retaining the global No. 1 position despite the economic hardships the world and the Korean economy experience.”

In particular, the Korean memory semiconductor sector has solidified its position on the global stage as it saw its global market share surpass 70 percent, the most ever in terms of quarterly DRAM market share, the KSIA chairman said. The Korean semiconductor segment has moved a level higher by introducing a 14-nano PinPet process, allowing the commercialization of systems on-chip. The Korean semiconductor industry has made preemptive measures to brace for the future, as Samsung Electronics launched a massive semiconductor production complex in Pyeongtaek last May and SK Hynix dedicated a M14 new lap production line last August. 

On behalf of Vice Minister Lee Kwan-sup of the MOTIE, MOTIE Deputy Minister for Industrial Policy Park acknowledged the Korean semiconductor industry’s achievements and called for an upsurge in such promising areas as system semiconductors by reviving the challenging spirit that the industry demonstrated in its early days. He noted that the government plans to take diverse measures to provide support, which can lead to the expanding of corporate investments as part of the government’s efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of Korean-made exports. Deputy Minister Park added that the government will focus on the development of technology in the system semiconductor segment and cultivating talent manpower so that gifted graduates can demonstrate their creativity and challenging sprit as part of the so-called Manufacturing Innovation 3.0 Strategy.

During the event, 37 people were presented with government orders and prizes in recognition of their contribution to the development of the Korean semiconductor industry. 

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix continue to report great results. Samsung Electronics repeated record-high figures for sales and operating profit in the third quarter of this year. SK Hynix chalked up more than 1 trillion won in operating profit in the third quarter of the year for the seventh straight quarter. 

Dignitaries, including Deputy Minister Park Il-joon of the Office of Industrial Policy at the MOTIE and KSIA Chairman Kim are on hand at the anniversary event.(Photos:KSIA)