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[global times comprehensive report] the united states is stepping up pressure on south korea to cooperate with us export controls on china, urging south korea to only provide advanced chips such as high-bandwidth memory (hbm) to its allies, which has caused concerns among south korean companies. according to the korea herald on the 11th, estevez, the us deputy secretary of commerce for industry and security, called on south korean chip manufacturers to supply hbm chips to south korean allies rather than china and other countries at the "2024 south korea-us economic security conference" held in washington, dc on the 10th. "there are three companies producing hbm chips, two of which are south korean companies," estevez said. "it is very important for us to develop this capability and make it meet the needs of ourselves and our allies."

on the 10th local time, estevez spoke at the "2024 south korea-us economic security conference" held in washington, d.c., usa. photo from korean media

regarding the possibility that the united states may impose new export restrictions on hbm chip sales, zheng renjiao, director of the trade negotiation bureau of the ministry of trade, industry and energy of south korea, said that the south korean government is expected to negotiate with the united states on this matter. zheng renjiao said that if export restrictions are implemented, it will have a great impact on south korea, "i cannot comment without any official statement from the (united states)." he said that the united states will work with south korea to address the concerns of south korean companies.

the korea herald reported that korean experts suggested that the korean government and chip manufacturers should continue negotiations with the united states to minimize the negative impact on the industry. a researcher at the korea institute for industrial economics and trade said: "unlike japan and the netherlands, south korea cannot 100% align with us export control measures because it is highly dependent on exports to china."

according to a previous report by yonhap news agency, since the united states strengthened semiconductor export controls against china in october 2022, it has been pressuring its allies to implement similar export controls. according to sources, the united states initially only put pressure on the netherlands and japan, which have higher levels of semiconductor technology, but since the second half of last year, the united states has increased its pressure on south korea, even naming specific south korean companies and treating south korea's semiconductor equipment exports to china as a "huge hidden danger." (li ziyu)