South Korea Must Speed Up Chip Investment or Lose Edge, Minister Warns

South Korea's Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Jin Zhengkuan has cautioned that the country risks watching its lead in semiconductors slip away unless it helps chipmakers speed up investment, with global competition heating up. Jin projected the global memory-chip market will expand to approximately $1 trillion by the end of this decade, saying speed would become a decisive competitive advantage in that race. He noted that semiconductor customers rarely switch suppliers once they adopt a product, which means losing market share during a period of surging demand would be especially costly for Korean chipmakers. The minister said South Korea currently supplies about 65% of the global memory-chip market. Jin also spoke out against plans to redistribute industry profits more broadly. Instead of debating how to divide up the sector's windfalls, policymakers should find ways to help companies put capital back into their businesses, he said. The warning lands as competition intensifies across the global chip industry. He argued that faster investment was essential to preserve that position.