South Korea's Industry Minister: China's Chip Investment Pace Beyond Imagination, Korea Must Accelerate Its Strategy
Claire Weston
South Korea's Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan warned that China's semiconductor spending is accelerating "beyond imagination," and that Korea risks losing its 65% global memory-chip market share if it fails to ramp up investment quickly.
What worries the minister most?
Kim Jung-kwan told the Gwanjang Club forum bluntly: "What concerns me most deeply is China."
He said China's pace of semiconductor investment "has gone beyond imagination" — the source of what he called a strong sense of urgency.
This means → Korea's chip-policy benchmark has shifted from "are we doing enough?" to "how fast is China closing the gap?"
How big is the memory-chip prize?
Kim said the global memory-chip market is expected to expand to roughly $1 trillion by the end of this decade.
South Korea currently holds about 65% of that market — but semiconductor customers rarely switch suppliers once committed.
In plain terms = switching chip suppliers is extremely costly. Whoever wins the next wave of orders locks in clients for years — fall behind, and the share is gone for good.
How much is China spending?
Kim contrasted Korean and Chinese investment levels: Beijing is pouring massive state resources into the sector.
He cited China's CXMT Corp. (长鑫存储), whose investment spending exceeds its own annual revenue.
This means → CXMT is betting tomorrow's money on today's capacity, backstopped by state funding — a tempo Korean firms cannot match on retained earnings alone.
What should the Korean government do?
Kim said Korean chipmakers still have the financial capacity to expand, but the government should support them by investing in power grids, water supply, and other infrastructure.
He warned policymakers to focus on getting companies to reinvest profits, not on debating how to redistribute them.
"If we try to share the fruits of the chip boom, we are cutting open the last goose that lays golden eggs."
Who should get the profits — shareholders or workers?
Kim criticized proposals to tie employee bonuses to operating profit, arguing that shareholders are the owners and their interests come first.
He warned that if the "share the profits" idea spreads across society, it will ultimately hurt management and workers themselves.
This reflects a sharpening domestic debate in Korea over how chip-industry windfalls should be distributed — and the minister is firmly on the side of "profits must flow back into investment."
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