<It's >

friendly economic time for anchors. I'll be with reporter Aeri Kwon. It seems that the semiconductor sluggishness is really becoming more and more unusual. Last month's export figures came out, but compared to a year ago, it is half a percent?

<Reporter>

Yes, not only semiconductors, but also the items that our country is doing well in the information and communication field right now, are almost all difficult right now.

Among them, semiconductor exports, which have been given a red light since the second half of last year, have been declining significantly for the eighth month now.

In February, semiconductor exports earned 41.5% less than a year ago.

Among them, what Korea does best in the world is memory semiconductors, which are used to store information.

The amount of money made from these memory semiconductors has been reduced by nearly 54%. It's literally half a piece.

Exports of displays fell by 42.2% and exports of computers and related devices by 58.6%. They're all separate items, but they're all connected.

The problem is that prices are rising not only in Korea but also in the world, and people's pockets are not good.

If I have extra money, I'll change my computer and change my TV. When you don't have a little money, you start with these expensive electronics and "don't change it next time."

The same goes for businesses. When you reduce investment, even if a new good facility comes out, it will be like "buy it next".

That's why computers, TVs, and display equipment aren't being sold, and there are fewer places to buy semiconductors, which are key components of these products.

As semiconductor inventories pile up for trillions of won, prices keep dropping.

In this case, semiconductor companies usually respond to falling prices by reducing production.

And as China's economy stretches again, there is an expectation that exports to China will increase in the second half of the year.

But for the time being, it looks like the current difficult times will continue.

<Anchor>
As
you just explained, if the game is the problem, then the game is of course the problem. However, at the same time, I am worried that the external environment surrounding semiconductors in Korea is also becoming a little complicated.

<Reporter>

Very much. Right now, the U.S. has some very strong semiconductor policies.

Semiconductors require so many different materials and complex technologies that until now, the division of labor has been similar internationally.

For example, Korea's microprocess technology to produce advanced semiconductor finished products is the best in the world along with Taiwan.

The United States, on the other hand, has a strong semiconductor design advantage. It also makes some important semiconductor equipment well.

But in the United States, semiconductors are increasingly too important components.

Therefore, from design to final production, we must make sure that it is done on American soil from beginning to end.

And China should not let this happen. This is why the United States is actively attracting Korean factories these days.

But we are our biggest customer of semiconductors, and we can see that China is already running a lot of factories.

In the long run, China could be its biggest rival, so there are plenty of reasons to cooperate with the United States.

However, the semiconductor policies that the United States is putting forward these days are increasingly difficult for us to bear.

For example, regarding the subsidies announced by the United States if factories are built in the United States, we have conveyed the position that the standards announced earlier this month, the demands that may leak technology, and the level of reducing investment in China, are too sudden in reality for Kon-woo Lee to bear.

<Anchor>
It's been a difficult tightrope for
a lot of things.

<Reporter>

Yes. Walking the tightrope between China and the U.S. is actually a headache, as it continues to alternate between competition and cooperation with other countries in the semiconductor alliance it envisions.

Even with Japan, which has a lot of political and diplomatic challenges, we are forced to seek a more strategic cooperation relationship with semiconductors.

Taiwan's TSMC, the world's No. 1 company that has surpassed the sales of our semiconductor companies, is building factories and research institutes in Japan.

This is partly due to Japan's desire to advance in the semiconductor field, but Taiwan also needs to preempt Japan's cutting-edge materials and niche technologies.

We're going to have to keep an eye on how we respond here.

In this rapidly changing environment, domestic support measures and legislation to expand tax support for the semiconductor industry are still being delayed in the political arena.

We need to find the most appropriate answer and think about it, but we all need to agree that the situation is not waiting for us long.