Chips, strategic partnership high on the agenda as Yoon sets off for the Netherlands

Diplomacy

Published: 07 Dec. 2023, 17:59

Chips, strategic partnership high on the agenda as Yoon sets off for the Netherlands

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, speaks with Peter Wennink, chief executive of Dutch chipmaking equipment manufacturer ASML, at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, on July 28. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol will make a five-day visit to the Netherlands next week focused on building a "chip alliance" with the northern European nation, highlighted by a trip to the headquarters of leading Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee are scheduled to make a state visit to the Netherlands from Monday to Thursday at the invitation of Dutch King Willem-Alexander, according to the presidential office on Thursday, with strengthening semiconductor cooperation and deepening the two countries' strategic partnership high on the agenda.

"Through this visit, we aim to combine Dutch cutting-edge equipment with Korea's cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities to maximize their complementary nature in the semiconductor value chain," Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser, said in a press briefing at the Yongsan presidential office in Seoul. "We will intensively discuss ways to establish a chips alliance encompassing our ministries, companies and universities."

After meeting with Koreans living in Amsterdam on Monday, Yoon will begin his official schedule Tuesday with a welcome ceremony, a private luncheon with the king and his wife Queen Maxima, laying a wreath at a national monument in Dam Square and a state dinner at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

On Tuesday afternoon, Yoon is scheduled to make a trip to the ASML's global headquarters in Veldhoven, in the southern Netherlands, and tour the company's facilities accompanied by King Willem-Alexander, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

The Dutch multinational corporation provides advanced chip manufacturing equipment to Korea's biggest chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Producing high-performing processors that power high-end smartphones and supercomputers is impossible without ASML's lithography machine based on extreme ultraviolet (EUV).

Yoon and the king will be shown around the cleanroom, where ASML's machines are produced, which the presidential office said would be the first time the company will reveal it to a foreign leader.

Yoon has met with ASML Chief Executive Peter Wennink twice, most recently in July during the Dutch businessman's visit to the presidential office in Seoul.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a lunch meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11, on the sidelines of a NATO summit. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

On Wednesday, Yoon will visit The Hague to visit the Dutch Parliament, hold a bilateral summit with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and have a joint press conference afterward. The prime minister will also host a business luncheon.

Yoon will also participate in economic and cultural events, including a business forum attended by some 200 people and a meeting with Dutch veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The two countries are expected to establish a semiconductor dialogue channel, sign memorandums of understanding (MOU) and discuss joint projects during Yoon's visit.

"Such efforts are expected to contribute to improving the stable supply of equipment to Korean semiconductor companies and strengthen the resilience of the global chips supply chain amid geopolitical conflicts and economic security crises in the international community," Kim said.

Yoon will become the first Korean president to pay a state visit to the European nation since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1961.

In November 2022, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte visited Seoul for a summit with Yoon, where the two countries concluded a strategic partnership agreement.

Kim noted that the Netherlands, a semiconductor powerhouse, is the largest investor in Korea among EU members and its second-largest European trading partner, along with Germany.

Last year, bilateral trade reached an all-time high of $16 billion, or around 21 trillion won, and the Netherlands' total investment in Korea reached $37.9 billion.

"Through this visit, Korea and the Netherlands hope to upgrade their strategic partnership to the next level in the fields of diplomacy and economic security," Kim said.

Park Chun-sup, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, said in the briefing that the two sides would cooperate on semiconductors, sustainable energy, science and technology and logistics through the state visit.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]