(iTers News) -World Semiconductor Council opens in Seoul Korea on May 26, celebrating its 20th anniversary. After he declared ‘Seoul Statement’ of Prosperity and Progress through Semiconductor’, Sung-wook Park, chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) and CEO of SK Hynix said, “Semiconductor chips are very instrumental in the growth of the future generation of cutting-edge high-tech industry. The future of the semiconductor chip industry rests with how to nurture a new crop of highly talented engineers.”

More than 100 CEOs and executives from global semiconductor chip makers joined the WSC. worldwide semiconductor market trends, environmental, health, & safety (EHS) issues, protection of intellectual property; anti-counterfeiting, encryption, trade facilitation, growth initiatives, and OECD BEPS (Base Erosion and Profile Shifting), among other matters.

The followings are excerpts from his talks with reporters

Reporters: What were today’s most controversial topics? What topics CEOs of global chip makers were mainly talking about?

Park:  We discussed all matters facing the global semiconductor chip industry, including environmental and industrial safety issues, trade tariffs, and protection of intellectual property rights, or IPRs

Reporters: What WSC decided to do to counter the Chinese government’s industrial promotion policy to subsidize the Chinese chipmakers’ business and investment projects?

We at WSC has hardly touched on the issue, but as chairman of KSIA, I hope that the Chinese government’s subsidiary policy should be more transparent, more public, and indiscriminative. To counter-attack it, Korean chip makers have to sharpen their competitive edge. Given the very nature of the semiconductor industry, research and development as well as early investments are very crucial in the matrix. Engendering talented engineers dis the sure way to flex the technology muscle.

Reporters: What agendas is KSIA mainly pursuing?

Park: KSIA is manly working on policy issues on how to protect environments and how harmonizes the industry’s interest with the government regulations

Reporters: What role do you think Korean semiconductor chipmakers should play in the global semiconductor market?

Park: Korean chip makers are supplying the vast majority of global memory chip demand. Tons of memory chip are now being used with a wide spectrum of IT devices. In the past, memory chips used to commodity-like , but they are increasingly customized depending on applications. Korean chip makers are leading this trend, significantly contributing to the growth of the global semiconductor industry.

WSC 20th Anniversary

WSC 20tj Anniversary