South Korea, which once maintained an unrivaled position in semiconductor memory technology, is now losing ground to China. With China’s semiconductor technology surpassing South Korea’s in most areas within just two years, experts highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive strategy to maintain competitiveness in the memory market and strengthen the foundation of the system semiconductor industry.
According to the “In-Depth Analysis of Technology Levels in Three Game-Changer Fields” brief published by the Korea Institute of Science & Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) on Feb. 23, a survey conducted among 39 domestic semiconductor experts who participated in the 2022 technology level assessment revealed that China surpassed South Korea in basic capabilities across all semiconductor technology sectors except advanced packaging.
When considering the leading technology nation at 100 percent, South Korea, which has traditionally excelled in high-density and resistance-based memory technologies, ranked third in fundamental capabilities with a score of 90.9 percent, trailing behind China’s 94.1 percent. In the 2022 survey, South Korea had secured second place with 95 percent, ahead of China’s 90 percent, marking a complete reversal within two years. Furthermore, China outperformed South Korea in fundamental capabilities across various fields, including high-performance and low-power AI semiconductors, where South Korea scored 84.1 percent and China 88.3 percent; power semiconductors, with South Korea at 67.5 percent and China at 79.8 percent; and next-generation high-performance sensing technology, where South Korea had 81.3 percent and China 83.9 percent. However, in advanced semiconductor packaging technology, South Korea and China were tied at 74.2 percent.
A comprehensive survey assessing the technological life cycle of the semiconductor sector also found that South Korea led only in processing and mass production, while China held an advantage in fundamental and core technologies as well as design. Notably, South Korea’s technological level in these areas ranked the lowest among all comparison countries, making them the weakest links in the semiconductor life cycle.
Jeong Eui-jin, a research fellow at KISTEP, stated, “Since 2014, China has designated semiconductors as a national strategic industry and has pursued aggressive policies and large-scale investments to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency. In particular, Chinese semiconductor companies are leveraging legacy memory technology, where the technological gap with competitors is minimal, to aggressively expand market share through volume-based strategies. In contrast, South Korea not only lags in government R&D investment but also has relatively low private-sector R&D expenditure as a percentage of sales, making the transition to the system semiconductor sector sluggish. Given the second Trump administration, the rise of Japan and China, and South Korea’s inadequate domestic R&D investments, the outlook for South Korea’s semiconductor market is not promising.”
