Country intelligence

South Korea

DRAM/NAND Memory, Foundry, Advanced Packaging, Specialty Gases

South Korea is the world's dominant memory semiconductor producer. Samsung and SK hynix together control ~70% of global DRAM capacity and ~50% of NAND flash. Samsung is also a leading-edge logic foundry (3GAE/4LPE) competing with TSMC. The K-Chips Act (2023) provides significant tax incentives for domestic fab investment. South Korea faces geopolitical exposure from North Korea proximity and supply-chain tension from China (where both Samsung and SK hynix operate legacy fabs). Amkor's Icheon campus is a global advanced packaging hub.

Updated through 2024-01-10Policy risk: MinimalWassenaarCHIPS-aligned

Key companies

samsung electronics sk hynix amkor db hitek sk siltron

Policy programs

K-Chips Act 2023K-Semiconductor StrategyUS-Korea CHIPS alliance

Country analytical depth

117Facilities

12Active companies

4Production stages

5Materials

0Routes

0Chokepoint exposures

0Sources

Export control and sanctions

Policy risk profile

Wassenaar member. K-Chips Act CHIPS-aligned. Close US ally; bilateral guardrails for Samsung/SK hynix China operations.

Overall policy riskMinimal (18/100)

Export control exposureLow

Sanctions riskMinimal

CHIPS Act alignment80%

Trade control membership

Regulatory regime

Wassenaar ArrangementMember

US EAR jurisdictionNo — not primary EAR jurisdiction

Facility concentration overview

Major companies active in-country

Samsung Electronics47 facilities

40% share

SK hynix21 facilities

18% share

JSR Corporation13 facilities

11% share

Amkor8 facilities

7% share

ASML7 facilities

6% share

Amkor Technology4 facilities

3% share

ASE Group3 facilities

3% share

GlobalWafers2 facilities

2% share

DB HiTek1 facilities

1% share

JCET1 facilities

1% share

Resonac (formerly Showa Denko)1 facilities

1% share

SK Siltron1 facilities

1% share

Logistics context

Routes and chokepoint exposure

Chokepoint linkage

0 chokepoint exposure records and 0 route records indexed for this country.

Source-backed claims

South Korea's semiconductor industry (primarily Samsung Electronics and SK hynix) accounts for approximately 20% of South Korea's total national exports.country_exposure | extracted

South Korea and China announced a bilateral semiconductor supply chain dialogue in 2023, reflecting South Korea's exposure to Chinese material and chemical inputs while China is a major export market.geopolitical_risk | extracted

Stage concentration

Production-stage distribution

Material concentration

Material relevance

Source-backed summary

Claims and freshness signal

Freshness label: Updated through 2024-01-10

Facility network

Filtered manufacturing footprint

Use the shared stage, material, company, and facility filters to isolate the tracked network inside this country.

80 of 80 facilities

Preparing intelligence surfaces

South Korea

Country analytical depth

Policy risk profile

Regulatory regime

Major companies active in-country

Routes and chokepoint exposure

Production-stage distribution

Material relevance

Claims and freshness signal

South Korea — relationship network

Filtered manufacturing footprint