TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — South Korean chip exports to Taiwan and Vietnam increased last year, reflecting changes in the supply chain, Korea JoongAng Daily reported Sunday.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the country’s semiconductor exports reached a record-high US$141.9 billion (NT$4.67 trillion) in 2024, surpassing the previous record of US$129.2 billion in 2022.
From January to November 2024, China accounted for 51.7% of South Korea’s chip exports, down from 61.1% in 2020. In contrast, South Korea’s chip exports to Taiwan increased from 6.4% in 2020 to 14.5% during the same period.
Industry sources say SK Hynix’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is shipped to TSMC before being sent to Nvidia, per Korea Herald. The Taiwanese chipmaker packages GPUs with HBM chips to produce AI accelerators for Nvidia.
Exports to Vietnam have also risen, from 11.6% in 2020 to 12.9% in 2024. This growth is mainly due to companies like Samsung relocating smartphone production from China to Vietnam.
Korea Institute of Industrial Economics and Trade researcher Kim Yang-paeng said Washington's “America First” policy would reshape the semiconductor supply chain around the US and push its allies to join it in its trade war with China.