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South Korea’s semiconductor boom risks flatlining under US–China pressure
Jul. 25, 2026 –
By Hanna Kim & Zhuoshi Bai, eastasiaforum.org
South Korea’s semiconductor exports reached US$44.8 billion in June 2026. But the industry’s dependence on China as both a market and production base and on US regulatory permission to operate China-based facilities leaves South Korean chipmakers caught between two great powers. The competing pressures imposed by Washington and Beijing are becoming harder to manage. While Samsung and SK Hynix are directing their most advanced next-generation investments towards South Korea and the United States, China’s accelerating semiconductor self-reliance poses a slower but more structural threat to the profitability of South Korean firms.
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