South Korea taps US trade deal to prevent chip spats with Japan

Seoul said any critical supply chain adjustments would be made through peer reviews by all 14 IPEF nations rather than unilaterally. — Reuters

SEOUL: South Korea is embracing a greater role in a US-led trade pact in Asia to root out the threat of spats with Japan that weighed on global supply chains for semiconductors.

South Korea’s semiconductor production came under pressure in 2019 when it became the target of Japan’s export controls on chipmaking materials such as photoresist.