Rebuilding the local semiconductor supply chain is an established national policy of the United States. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen both stressed that it is a national security issue for the United States that more than 90% of the most sophisticated semiconductor chips rely on Taiwan.
In the US China confrontation, semiconductor has become a powerful weight for China’s rise, leaving Taiwan with no choice. It is imperative to consolidate the position of Japan and South Korea in the western camp. The United States, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan together account for 92% of the world semiconductor output value. The United States expects that these four countries will jointly promote the semiconductor technology in the framework of chip 4.
In the global semiconductor market of US $2021555.9 billion, US suppliers contributed US $273.9 billion, accounting for 49%, followed by South Korea (17.3%) and Taiwan (9.7%). Thanks to the leading position of Samsung and SK Hynix in the memory market, the influence of Korean products has surpassed that of Taiwan.
However, if we look at the total industrial output value of 894.3 billion US dollars, including production activities, the United States still tops the list with a contribution rate of 359.5 billion US dollars and 40.2%. Taiwan, with its outstanding capabilities in wafer manufacturing, packaging, testing and IC design, accounts for 17.3%, higher than South Korea (14.8%) and Japan (10%), which focus on memory. There has been little progress in recent years. In terms of total industrial output value, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan together accounted for 82%.
The United States is still the leader in IDM and IC design; As far as memory is concerned, South Korea is the leading force; Despite limited resources, Taiwan has gained an overwhelming advantage in the field of casting, allowing various high-end processes to take root in Taiwan, which is also a bulwark for the United States to prevent China from acquiring cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities.
For the United States, Taiwan is definitely on the side of the United States; But the situation in South Korea is different. In addition to Samsung’s NAND factory in Xi’an and Korean Hynix’s DRAM factory in Wuxi, 60% of Korean semiconductor products are sold to China. Economic problems are unlikely to overwhelm South Korea immediately, but South Korea will not easily give up the strategy of using China to confront the threat from North Korea.
But for South Korea, the situation is getting out of control. The deputy commander of the US military in South Korea vowed that if there was a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the US would use its military base on the Korean Peninsula to provide assistance to Taiwan. The US Army Commander also stressed that US troops stationed in South Korea will participate in military operations in the Taiwan Strait. Even South Korean President Yin Xiyue has to promise that his country will use all diplomatic means to mediate the tension in the Taiwan Strait.
In the final analysis, both economy and industry serve political purposes. When the United States decides to use semiconductors as a non military force to counter China’s rise, Taiwan and Japan will have no choice, and South Korea is no exception.
Unless China has enough power to check and balance the United States, the world will still be a unipolar world dominated by the United States – at least in the Western camp or capitalist society. The US military stationed in South Korea and the semiconductor industry in South Korea are only a small part of the overall situation of the US China confrontation. In addition, South Korea’s weak financial structure is the basis for the continued depreciation of the Korean won. If South Korea is in trouble again, can it count on China or the United States to help? At this critical moment, ideology will be the key to reshaping the Asian terrain.