Experts call for deeper Korea-US ties in AI, semiconductors amid trade tensions
At the Korea-US Industrial Cooperation Conference, co-hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea-America Association in Seoul on Tuesday, industry officials underscored the importance of deeper partnerships in key sectors, including AI, semiconductors, shipbuilding, defense and energy, to navigate an increasingly complex and uncertain trade environment.
'Korea is a global leader in semiconductors, nuclear energy, shipbuilding and other manufacturing industries,' said Choi Joong-kyung, chair of the Korea-America Association and Korea's ambassador for international investment cooperation. 'By combining Korea's manufacturing capability and US advanced technological power, both countries can benefit from a strong synergy effect.'
Park Il-jun, executive vice chairman of the KCCI, noted that the two countries were moving from a "period of uncertainty to a time for negotiation." "The fundamental solution to issues such as the trade deficit and boosting domestic manufacturing in the US is to create strategic synergy through industry cooperation between the two countries," he said.
In the areas of AI development and semiconductors, experts emphasized that rather than developing foundational models from scratch, Korean companies can work with American big tech companies to build on top of existing models to tailor them to Korea's specific needs.
'It is important to cooperate so that Korean firms can utilize AI models in which the US is leading," said Kim Chang-wook, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group. 'In return, we can consider sharing the costs when big tech firms build data centers in Korea or rent GPUs.'
Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, echoed that sentiment, noting that foundation models –- which are highly competitive and expensive -- could be like a 'commoditized utility' going forward, with much of the economic value residing in the applications built on top of them.
'There's an incredible opportunity for Korea to build on top of those US and other foundation models and use those GPUs for deployment of AI models,' said Chorzempa, noting Korea is one of a very few countries that have obtained top tier status under the AI diffusion rule, which allows unrestricted access to the advanced US-made GPUs that are critical in AI computing.
Mike Yeh, regional vice president for Microsoft's corporate external and legal affairs in Asia, also agreed that Korea could find opportunities in developing AI applications, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity, productivity and demographics.
During the discussion, Chorzempa also addressed growing concerns about the future of the Biden-era CHIPS Act. Korean chipmakers like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have committed to building manufacturing facilities in the US in exchange for billions of dollars in subsidies.
'Although Trump has criticized the CHIPS Act in the past, it now seems that instead of being repealed, it might actually be expanded in terms of at least the tax credit element of the CHIPS Act, which is going to be the largest subsidy component by far,' said Chorzempa. He added that the real challenge to the semiconductor industry lies in tariffs, which could drive up the cost of training AI and building fabs in the US.
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