SK hynix denies facing pressure to approve U.S.-Japan chip merger

SK hynix denies facing pressure to approve U.S.-Japan chip merger [YONHAP]

SK hynix on Monday denied a recent media report saying it has been pressured by Seoul as well as Tokyo and Washington to approve the merger between Japan's Kioxia and the U.S.' Western Digital.

According to the report last month, the Japanese NAND flash memory manufacturer and the American memory chipmaker are set to resume negotiations in April on management integration, which have been stalled due to SK hynix's opposition in October, 2023.

Citing an unnamed third-party source, the report said the Korean government along with U.S. and Japanese officials have tried to "persuade" the Korean company to green-light the proposed merger aimed at creating an American-Japanese memory chip giant.

"SK hynix would like to make it very clear that this is not true. SK hynix has never faced such pressure or persuasion efforts by the Korean government," the company said in a release.

"SK hynix would like to correct this part of the media report, which has led to a series of incorrect reports."

SK hynix, a major investor in Kioxia through a Korean-American-Japanese consortium led by Bain Capital, holds a key position in the approval process of the Kioxia-Western Digital merger plan.

While it has not agreed to the merger, the Korean chipmaker has expressed its intention to maintain cooperation with the Japanese company.

BY JIN EUN-SOO, YONHAP [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]