Luc Van den hove, CEO of imec, poses for a photo during a press conference in Seoul, Feb. 18. Yonhap
The chief of imec, Europe’s largest semiconductor research and development (R&D) center, urged Korea to strengthen its global technological influence by expanding international cooperation in semiconductor R&D.
“This industry is so much coupled across the world. There are so many dependencies,” said Luc Van den hove, CEO of imec, an independent research center for nanoelectronics and digital technology based in Belgium, during a press conference in Seoul.
“A much wiser approach is to make sure that you’re the strongest in what you do, because that’s the best way to make the rest of the world dependent on you,” he added. “Focus on your strengths and make sure that the rest of the world needs you for those strengths and excellence. I believe this is the best guarantee for future success.”
Van den hove pointed out that global partnership is essential for technological advancement, particularly amid rapid shifts in the semiconductor industry driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and U.S.-led protectionism.
The rise of AI computing has intensified demand for more energy-efficient, high-performance chips, including graphic processing units (GPUs) and high bandwidth memory (HBM).
At the same time, the U.S.-led semiconductor alliance, including Korea, Japan and Taiwan, is restructuring the global supply chain by integrating all aspects of semiconductor production, from R&D and design to manufacturing, packaging and sales.
“We are very convinced that the progress in semiconductor technology has been the result of strong global collaboration and very convinced that this is needed also in the future,” he said.
“My recommendation to Korea is certainly to keep a very open mindset as much as possible for global collaboration.”
As part of these essential collaborations, Van den hove highlighted imec’s long-standing partnerships with Korean chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
He met with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong in 2022 to share views on up-to-date chip technologies and R&D issues. He also had talks with SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung in October to discuss industry developments.
“We have had a very strong partnership with Samsung Electronics for about 20 years,” he said. “More than 10 years ago, we started to work with Samsung, and so this has been a partnership that has been growing since then.”
During his Seoul visit, Van den hove plans to meet with Lee and Kwak again on the sidelines of Semicon Korea 2025, an annual semiconductor exhibition that showcases the latest developments in materials, equipment and related technologies. The event kicks off Wednesday for a three-day run in southern Seoul. (Yonhap)
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