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I have returned from Korea and will try to get back on my regular weekend schedule on Sunday and my weekday schedule on Monday.
Quotes of the Day:
“Your knowledge is far more important than your degree.”
— Paul Dirac
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”
— Plato
“Don’t waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.”
— Paulo Coelho
1. 'Fruitful cooperation!' Russia calls for North Korean labourers for help in the Donbas
2. Senior U.S. diplomat to visit Seoul next week
3. S. Korea protests against Japan's claims to Dokdo in defense white paper
4. Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S. meet in Indonesia
5. North Korea warns of 'undesirable' consequences as the US and South Korea get ready for bigger war games
6. S. Korea reports 68,551 new COVID-19 cases
7. N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases under 200 for 3rd day: state media
8. Unification Ministry: S. Korea can offer bold proposals for N. Korea
9. Colonel Weber’s place to have nameplate of Korean War veteran
10. LG Energy Solution increases battery supply to Ford
11. President Yoon Suk-yeol calls for strong missile defense against North Korea
12. Samsung to invest billions in Texas chip plan
1. 'Fruitful cooperation!' Russia calls for North Korean labourers for help in the Donbas
In Korea this week we met with a Korean who is a north Korean analyst whose "rumors" provide accurate more often than not.. He said the rumor coming from north Korea is that these construction laborers will be north Korean special purpose forces sent to Ukraine to help fight Putin's war.
'Fruitful cooperation!' Russia calls for North Korean labourers for help in the Donbas
Express · by Jack Walters · July 22, 2022
Putin is 'too healthy' says CIA director amid illness rumours
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The Kremlin's ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matesegora, suggested that North Korean labourers could be used to rebuild the two separatist republics in Eastern Ukraine. He also claimed Pyongyang would likely receive much-needed industrial equipment and wheat from Ukraine as payment.
However, providing such technology to Pyongyang would violate United Nations sanctions which Moscow has previously supported.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Matsegora said: “Highly qualified, hard-working and ready to work in the most difficult conditions, Korean builders will be an asset in the serious task of restoring social, infrastructural and industrial facilities destroyed by the retreating 'Ukronazis'.”
Despite previous sanctions, North Korea is just the third country to officially recognise Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics, after Russia and Syria.
Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, welcomed the recognition made by Pyongyang.
'Fruitful cooperation!' Russia calls for North Korean labourers for help in the Donbas (Image: Getty)
Pyongyang would likely receive much-needed industrial equipment and wheat from Ukraine as payment. (Image: Getty)
He said it was “a triumph of diplomacy” and revealed he looks forward to “active and fruitful cooperation” with North Korea.
Mr Matsegora also suggested diplomatic ties could be strengthened.
According to the Telegraph, he told Izvestia there are “wide prospects for bilateral cooperation” between the two breakaway republics and their new Asian ally, with Pyongyang particularly keen to obtain replacements for its Soviet-era manufacturing equipment.
Much of that equipment was originally made in the industrial region of Eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Image: Getty)
The news comes after it was revealed forces from the Kremlin are continuing to target critical national infrastructure.
An intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed: “Russian and separatist forces continue to attempt small scale assaults along the Donbas front line.
“Russian forces are likely closing in on Ukraine’s second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, 50km north-east of Donetsk.
“Russia is prioritising the capture of critical national infrastructure, such as power plants.”
Much of that equipment was originally made in the industrial region of Eastern Ukraine. (Image: Getty)
Trending
Mr Matsegora also suggested diplomatic ties could be strengthened. (Image: Getty)
The MoD added: “However, it is probably also attempting to break through at Vuhlehirska, as part of its efforts to regain momentum on the southern pincer of its advance towards the key cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.”
Express · by Jack Walters · July 22, 2022
2. Senior U.S. diplomat to visit Seoul next week
Continued sustained high level diplomatic engagement.
If north Korea does send SOF to Ukraine (disguised as laborers) to fight Putin's war and if South Korea begins to find lethal aid to Ukraine are we going to see a semi-proxy war play out in Ukraine? I would really like to see the Ukrainians do some damage to north Korean forces. We will want to exploit this from an information and influence activities campaign
Senior U.S. diplomat to visit Seoul next week | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 23, 2022
SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- A senior U.S. State Department official will visit Seoul next week to discuss issues including Russia's war in Ukraine and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the department said.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland will visit Japan and South Korea from Monday to Thursday to meet with her counterparts from the foreign ministries and other government agencies of the respective countries.
Nuland will "coordinate on regional and global issues, including economic security, food security, Russia's war against Ukraine, and the threat to regional stability posed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the department said in a press release, referring to North Korea by its official name.
[email protected]
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 23, 2022
3. S. Korea protests against Japan's claims to Dokdo in defense white paper
Two steps forward, one step back? Or the other way around?
(2nd LD) S. Korea protests against Japan's claims to Dokdo in defense white paper | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · July 22, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with defense ministry's summoning of Japanese defense attache in 6th para)
SEOUL/TOKYO, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government strongly condemned Japan on Friday for laying repeated claim to the easternmost islets of Dokdo in its annual defense white paper.
"(The government) strongly protests against Japan's repetition of its sovereignty claim over Dokdo, clearly an integral part of the Korean territory in terms of history, geography and international law, and urges it to immediately scrap it," foreign ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a statement.
Such a move is of no help to efforts for building "future-oriented" bilateral relations, he added.
It was issued shortly after Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi reported this year's document to the Cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. It marked the 18th consecutive year for Tokyo to claim its sovereignty over Dokdo in the paper on the nation's security conditions and its responses.
In Seoul, the ministry summoned Makoto Hayashi, minister for political affairs at the Japanese Embassy, to deliver a formal protest message to Tokyo.
In separate protest, Seoul's defense ministry called in Takao Nakashima, a defense attache at the embassy.
The paper was published just days after Foreign Minister Park Jin visited Tokyo for talks with his local counterpart, demonstrating President Yoon Suk-yeol's commitment to a resolution to disputes over shared history, especially Japan's colonization of Korea from 1910-45.
The updated version carried largely similar descriptions on the territorial issue, a longtime sticking point in Seoul-Tokyo relations, with those of last year's one.
But it added a position that cooperation between the neighboring countries is getting more important amid grave regional security situations.
Seoul has maintained its effective control of Dokdo with a small police detachment on the rocky islets in the East Sea.
[email protected]
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · July 22, 2022
4. Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S. meet in Indonesia
Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S. meet in Indonesia | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 23, 2022
SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States met in Indonesia and coordinated their responses to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the foreign ministry said Saturday.
The meeting between Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim was held Friday in Jakarta, where the American diplomat also serves as the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia.
"As our government is crafting a North Korea policy road map in consultation with relevant ministries and in close consultation with the United States, there were detailed and in-depth discussions on the road map at the latest meeting between the top South Korean and U.S. nuclear envoys," a foreign ministry official said.
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration has been devising an "audacious plan" to offer to North Korea in the event it takes steps to denuclearize.
The plan will include economic incentives and security guarantees, according to government officials.
The envoys' meeting came about two weeks after they met on the sidelines of a Group of 20 foreign ministers' meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali.
[email protected]
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 23, 2022
5. North Korea warns of 'undesirable' consequences as the US and South Korea get ready for bigger war games
Political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and military warfighting strategies. Keep these three inmind.
And please no one try to make the argument that if we would just cancel the exercises they would not conduct a nuclear test. There will be a test whether we have the exercise or not.
North Korea warns of 'undesirable' consequences as the US and South Korea get ready for bigger war games
Business Insider · by Abbie Shull
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks away from what state media report is a "new type" of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in this photo released by by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on March 24, 2022
KCNA via Reuters
- The US and South Korea are preparing for expanded joint military drills, which will include live field exercises.
- North Korea has warned the two countries may face "an undesirable consequence."
- South Korea's president told reporters on Friday that the North could conduct a nuclear test at any moment.
Get a daily selection of our top stories based on your reading preferences.
As the US and South Korea prepare for expanded summertime joint military exercises, North Korea is warning that the two allies will face "unprecedented" security challenges and "undesirable" consequences if they do not stop their "military confrontation."
Choe Jin, the deputy director of North Korea's Institute of Disarmament and Peace, a state-run organization operated by the North Korean foreign ministry, told the Associated Press this week that the US-South Korean military drills are "driving the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war."
"Should the US and its allies opt for military confrontation with us, they would be faced with unprecedented instability security-wise," Jin said, adding that "the US should keep in mind that it will be treated on a footing of equality when it threatens us with nukes."
Jin also said that the US should stop its "suicidal policy of hostility" with North Korea if it does not wish to face "an undesirable consequence."
Joint military drills between the US and South Korea, long-time allies, are regular events. Exercises have been smaller in recent years, but this year, the two countries will resume joint field exercises for the first time since 2018, the South Korean defense ministry has said. The North Korean reaction has so far been consistent with responses to past drills, which it regards as a precursor to an invasion.
The summertime military exercises have been scaled down due to COVID-19, attempts to curb tensions with the North, and, during the Trump administration, presidential complaints about the cost of the drills.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, whose first term began in May, has said though these joint drills should be normalized as a deterrence against North Korea that is again engaging in provocative behavior.
A missile is fired during a joint US-South Korean exercise on South Korea's East Coast, June 6, 2022.
South Korean Defense Ministry/Dong-A Daily via Getty Images
"The US and South Korea are clearly demonstrating how close their alliance is," Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation told Insider. "One has to wonder if Kim Jong-Un isn't realizing that this is his fault. If he hadn't done multiple missile tests this year, we would not be out showing the strength of our alliance."
North Korea has conducted 31 missile tests in 2022, including one it claims was its first successful ICBM launch since 2017. On June 6, just 24-hours after North Korea launched eight short-range missiles, the US and South Korea carried out a joint-missile test that the latter's Joint Chiefs of Staff said "demonstrated the capability and posture to launch immediate precision strikes on the origins of provocations, even if North Korea launches missiles from various locations."
People watch a TV broadcast about a North Korean missile launch at the Seoul Railway Station, June 5, 2022.
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
But South Korea says more provocative testing from the North may be soon to come, including its first nuclear test since September 2017. President Yoon said North Korea is ready to conduct a nuclear test at any moment.
"We believe that not only at the end of this month, but ever since my inauguration, it's fully ready and able to do it whenever it decides," Yoon told reporters on Friday. In May, CNN reported that the US had assessed that North Korea could be ready to conduct another nuclear test by the end of the month.
Bennett said it would be no surprise if North Korea turned to a nuclear test as their "next major provocation."
"The fact that the US is participating in this training is going to be causing Kim all kinds of concerns," Bennett told Insider. "He doesn't want to strengthen our alliance, but he's been doing a really good job of that this year."
Business Insider · by Abbie Shull
6. S. Korea reports 68,551 new COVID-19 cases
Keeping my fingers crossed as I just returned from today.
S. Korea reports 68,551 new COVID-19 cases | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 23, 2022
SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea reported 68,551 new coronavirus cases Saturday as the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 continued to spread.
The tally is 1.66 times the number of cases a week ago but similar to the 68,632 new infections reported the previous day.
Saturday's cases, including 293 from overseas, raised the country's total caseload to 19,146,180, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The daily caseload more than doubled to 73,582 on Tuesday from 26,299 a day earlier and rose to 76,402 Wednesday and 71,170 Thursday.
The omicron subvariant BA.5 has spread fast since end-June with the start of the summer holiday season. The daily count hit over 10,000 on June 29 for the first time in about three weeks before jumping to over 20,000 on July 9 and then above 40,000 on July 13.
The KDCA reported 30 deaths from the virus Saturday, putting the death toll at 24,855. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.
The number of critically ill patients was 140.
[email protected]
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · July 23, 2022
7. N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases under 200 for 3rd day: state media
Would I realy have been safer from COVID in north Korea than South Korea this week? I very much doubt it despite north Korean reporting of their "success." Plus I would have been endangered for other reasons, most notably my violations of north Korea laws due to my criticism of the Supreme, Great, and Dear Leader otherwise known as the Fat Man and Little Boy. (oh wait... those were the names of two nuclear bombs dropped somewhere once upon a time a long time ago).
N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases under 200 for 3rd day: state media | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · July 23, 2022
SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained below 200 for the third consecutive day, according to its state media Saturday.
More than 120 people showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters.
It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have been reported.
The total number of fever cases since late April came to over 4.77 million as of 6 p.m. Friday, of which 99.99 percent had recovered and at least 350 others are being treated, it added.
The North's daily fever tally has been on a downward trend after peaking at over 392,920 on May 15, three days after it announced a coronavirus outbreak.
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · July 23, 2022
8. Unification Ministry: S. Korea can offer bold proposals for N. Korea
Again, some of us will be meeting with researchers from the Korean Institute of National Unification (KNIU) (the MOU's "think tank") this week and I hope they will be presenting their proposals that are in line with the president's recent comments on unification.
Unification Ministry: S. Korea can offer bold proposals for N. Korea
donga.com
Posted July. 23, 2022 07:33,
Updated July. 23, 2022 07:33
Unification Ministry: S. Korea can offer bold proposals for N. Korea. July. 23, 2022 07:33. by Jin-Woo Shin [email protected].
President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Friday, "I hope that realistic measures will be thoroughly prepared for the bold proposals in return if North Korea accepts substantial denuclearization." President Yoon gave this directive on the same day when he received a report from Unification Minister Kwon Young-se. In his inaugural address in May, President Yoon said, "I will prepare bold plans to dramatically improve the North Korean economy and the lives of North Koreans."
According to the Unification Ministry, the "bold plans" mentioned by President Yoon include economic cooperation and security measures for North Korea. "Isn't it a security issue that North Korea uses as a justification in the process of developing nuclear weapons?,” a ministry official said. “That is why we plan to include not only economic support for North Korea, but also a plan to address security concerns that (North Korea) has expressed concerns about. We plan to include to a degree where the North Korean regime won’t feel the need for nuclear development and present it.” As a security guarantee, the signing of a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula, building military trust, and arms control, etc. are considered to be comprehensively reviewed.
However, the government is not in a hurry, because North Korea has not yet stopped provocations, and these measures are a 'step-by-step' implementation approach leading to a denuclearization end goal. "It is a step-by-step, simultaneous implementation of denuclearization and corresponding measures, not a preemptive denuclearization or a big deal solution,” Minister Kwon also reported to President Yoon on the day. In this report, no special instructions or comments from President Yoon regarding the 'repatriation of North Korean fishermen defectors to North Korea' are known to be made.
On the same day, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup also reported to the president. In his report, it was announced that the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG) combined exercise, which was suspended at the end of 2017, was renamed Ulchi-Freedom Shield (UFS), meaning ‘shield of freedom,’ and will be revived starting the second half of next month. It also includes the decision to resume the joint outdoor maneuver exercise at the regiment level or higher from next year, which had been suspended under the former Moon Jae-in administration in consideration of inter-Korean relations. "In the first and second half of every year, the combined aircraft carrier strike group training in which U.S. aircraft carriers participate and the large-scale amphibious training of the ROK and US Marines will be intensively conducted,” a military official said.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the number of high-power and ultra-precision missiles such as the Hyunmoo-4 capable of striking the entire region of North Korea will be increased, and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) capabilities, such as the penetration and strike capabilities of special warfare units, will be expanded.
President Yoon directed Minister Lee to “make every effort to rigorously and efficiently construct a missile defense system to address the North Korean nuclear threat, and at the same time, work towards achieving a salary of 2 million won or more (by 2025) for the servicemen and women, which was the presidential campaign promise.”
한국어
donga.com
9. Colonel Weber’s place to have nameplate of Korean War veteran
COL Webber is a great American patriot and a great example of someone who devoted so much of his life and effort to supporting the ROK./US alliance.
Also great to see the Defense Minister and the US Army recognize a special operations unit at the National Museum of the United States Army i
Colonel Weber’s place to have nameplate of Korean War veteran
donga.com
Posted July. 23, 2022 07:33,
Updated July. 23, 2022 07:33
Colonel Weber’s place to have nameplate of Korean War veteran . July. 23, 2022 07:33. by Sang-Ho Yun [email protected].
South Korean Minister Park Min-shik of Patriots and Veterans Affairs will celebrate the completion of the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial located in Washington, D.C. next Wednesday in a speech on behalf of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, according to the agency on Friday. The names of a total of 36,634 U.S. troops and 7,174 KATUSA members who were sacrificed during the Korean War have been engraved on this commemorative monument. As a symbolic establishment of the alliance between South Korea and the United States and, it will become the first of its kind to have names of South Korean war victims on it on U.S. territory.
This Sunday, Minister Park plans to visit the house of retired William Weber, a decorated Korean War veteran who passed away in April, to have a nameplate attached to identify his place as a decorated Korean War veteran’s. After receiving his personal belongings from his bereaved family, the minister will hand them over to the United Nations Peace Memorial Hall in Busan. Colonel Weber came under attack in a battle to lose his right arm and leg. Discharged from the military, he worked hard to raise awareness of the Korean War serving as the chairman of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation.
Next Monday, Minister Park will offer flowers at a monument at the National Museum of the United States Army in Virginia to commemorate the 8240th Army Unit, also known as the KLO Unit, which gathered intelligence on North Korea during the Korean War. Monica Choi, a daughter of company commander Choi Gyung-jin of the Korean Liaison Office, and other war veterans will attend the commemorative event, according to the ministry.
한국어
donga.com
10. LG Energy Solution increases battery supply to Ford
LG Energy Solution increases battery supply to Ford
donga.com
Posted July. 23, 2022 07:35,
Updated July. 23, 2022 07:35
LG Energy Solution increases battery supply to Ford. July. 23, 2022 07:35. by Do-Young Kwak [email protected].
Despite growing uncertainties over the global economy, battery manufacturers have continued to make investments to meet the needs of electric vehicles.
LG Energy Solution announced on Friday that it will double factory lines exclusive to batteries in Ford models in its manufacturing facilities in Poland by next year. Since the second half of 2020, South Korea's leading electric vehicle battery maker has supplied batteries to the popular EV model Mustang Mach-E and the commercial EV E-Transit. There is some level of optimism about its future sales trends. Ford CEO Jim Farley wrote on Twitter late last year that the company will more than triple production capacity of the Mustang Mach-E by 2023. The Mustang Mach-E sold more than 55,000 units last year in the global market.
The Poland-based Ford manufacturing lines are the largest-scale battery production hub as of now in the world with a manufacturing capacity of 70 GWh. LG Energy Solution in these facilities provides batteries not only to Ford but also to German carmaker Volkswagen. The recent build up plan is aimed at Ford’s production increase plan.
“LG has recently resumed a review of an investment project of 1.7 trillion won in battery production lines in Arizona. It may take a preemptive measure to get ready for potential demands,” said an insider from LG’s side. “If a trustful client or a joint venture promises a certain level of volume, the business can be partly free of risks of economic recession.”
SK on also announced on Friday that it will make a joint investment in building facilities for cathode materials in North America in collaboration with Ford and cathode manufacturer ECOPRO BM. The trilateral group will forge an official contract to make investments within this year and commence construction works on the site around the second half of the next year. Once cathode materials are produced, they will be supplied to Blue Oval SK, or a joint venture recently launched by SK on, and Ford to manufacture batteries.
한국어
donga.com
11. President Yoon Suk-yeol calls for strong missile defense against North Korea
The only thing better than South Korea having strong missile defense capability is for South Korea to be part of an integrated missile defense architecture with the US and Japan.
Friday
July 22, 2022
President Yoon Suk-yeol calls for strong missile defense against North Korea
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/07/22/national/defense/korea-north-korea-nuclear/20220722173902807.html
President Yoon Suk-yeol, right, in a policy briefing meeting with Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup at the presidential office in Seoul on Friday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE OF KOREA]
President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the creation of a strong missile defense mechanism against North Korean nuclear threat on Friday.
In a policy meeting with Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup at the presidential office, Yoon ordered Lee to “make every effort to construct a dense and efficient missile defense system to counter the North Korean nuclear threat,” according to presidential spokesperson Kang In-sun.
Yoon also ordered the ministry to “normalize” joint military exercises with the United States, including field maneuvers, and ensure that there is substantial training within the Ulchi Freedom Shield, the joint exercises scheduled from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield includes computer simulation-based training and field maneuvers between Seoul and Washington, and is considered a revival of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills that were scrapped in 2018.
The military trainings were largely reduced to computer simulations during the former Moon Jae-in administration, for reasons including the Covid-19 pandemic and the Moon government’s policy that emphasized peace and dialogue with the North.
Policies to increase exports of Korean defense and military equipment were also discussed during the meeting, according to the presidential office.
In response to a question from the press on the South Korean three-axis system following the meeting, Lee said that the timeline for the deployment of strategic development of the system could be as early as 2027.
The system refers to three defenses against North Korean nuclear and missile threats: a Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, Korean Air and Missile Defense system and Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan.
In his meeting with Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Friday afternoon, Yoon ordered the ministry to come up with a policy to ensure North Korea is offered “realistic measures” in economic cooperation and security guarantees, should it decide to take significant steps toward denuclearization.
“Remember that the Constitution states unification should be a process whereby the peoples of both South and North Korea are at the center of the decisions,” Yoon was quoted by his office to have told Kwon.
He also ordered the ministry to quickly establish the North Korean human rights foundation, which has been pending since 2016 when a law for its establishment was passed.
The meeting did not touch upon the recent controversy surrounding the repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019, Kwon told the press afterwards.
Foreign Minister Park Jin reported to Yoon on Thursday about Korea’s ties with the United States, Japan and China.
Yoon called for “active diplomacy based on universal norms and values,” urging Park to promote diplomacy with its four main neighbors, namely the United States, Russia, China and Japan, while focusing on a stronger U.S.-Korea alliance, and to maximize Korea’s national interests by expanding diplomatic overtures in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
“Economic diplomacy is the most important,” Yoon was quoted to have said in the meeting by his office. “If it is helpful to our economy, I will go anywhere.”
After the meeting, Park stressed that ties with Japan will be improved and cooperation with China not neglected.
“The discussions on Korea possibly joining the Chip 4 and Korea’s membership of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are not meant as a signal to leave out certain nations,” Park told the press on Thursday. “[President Yoon] ordered that we explain our position to China beforehand, closely and in detail, so that there are no misunderstandings.”
BY ESTHER CHUNG [[email protected]]
12. Samsung to invest billions in Texas chip plan
Friday
July 22, 2022
Samsung to invest billions in Texas chip plan
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/07/22/business/tech/Korea-Samsung-Electronics-Texas/20220722184933272.html
The construction site of a Samsung Electronics chip manufacturing facility in Taylor, Texas [CITY OF TAYLOR]
Samsung Electronics submitted a long-term plan to invest a total of $192 billion and build 11 chip-making plants in Texas over the next few decades, according to its applications filed with Texas authorities.
The actual amount of investment is subject to change since corporations tend to overestimate their investment when applying for tax incentives.
The Korean chipmaker proposed building nine new plants in the Texan city of Taylor, setting an investment that could amount to $167.6 billion, in the documents made public on the Texas Comptroller website on Wednesday.
Another two plants were suggested in Austin, where the company already operates two factories, with an estimated $24.5 billion of spending.
A spokesperson at Samsung Electronics said the decision is far from being finalized and is mainly intended to examine a possibility ahead of the expiration of a major tax incentive program by the end of this year.
"We currently do not have specific plans to build at this time. However, the Chapter 313 applications to the State of Texas are part of Samsung's long-term plan to evaluate the viability of potentially building additional fabrication plants in the United States," the spokesperson said.
Other chipmakers like NXP and Texas Instrument also filed applications for the Chapter 313 program.
The company made it clear that tax grants will be a critical factor for finalizing the decision.
“Due to the higher tax cost of operating in Texas, the appraised value limitation will be a determining factor. Without the appraised value limitation award, the company will not likely locate the project to Texas,” the filings read.
Some of the production lines could be up and running as early as 2034, and the remaining parts will be gradually constructed over the course of the next 10 years.
Further details were few and far between in the statements, only mentioning that the project is intended to build wafer fabrication facilities.
The existing plants in Austin and the first factory in Taylor are the so-called foundry fab that contract-manufactures chips based on designs from external clients.
Samsung Electronics last year picked Taylor to be the location to build the $17 billion chip plant that is currently under construction.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to celebrate the consideration.
"Close partnerships with companies like Samsung — who recognize the boundless possibilities Texas has to offer — are bringing greater opportunities to Texans, and this potential investment will bring billions of additional capital to continue growing our world-class business climate and diverse, highly-skilled workforce,” Abbott said in a statement on Thursday.
BY PARK EUN-JEE [[email protected]]
13.
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
VIDEO "WHEREBY" Link: https://whereby.com/david-maxwell
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: [email protected]
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