Korea Still Highly Reliant on Japanese Semiconductor Components

The Japanese government implemented export restrictions against South Korea in July 2019 and South Korea has taken measures since then in order to rely less on industrial materials, components and equipment imported from Japan. It has been found that the dependence is still high nonetheless. Besides, last year, the dependence increased in the electronic component industry.

Specifically, in 2022, South Korea’s electronic component imports from Japan totaled US$9.6111 billion, 11.8 percent of its total electronic component imports. The amount almost doubled from US$5.9965 billion in four years and the ratio also rose from 9.6 percent. The category includes the semiconductor industry, the biggest prop for South Korea’s exports.

“The measures have been meaningful in terms of import source diversification but inefficient at the same time,” said an expert, adding, “The imports cannot be fully replaced, not within years even if so, and what is more important is to reduce the gap through technological exchange.”

It cannot be denied that the measures have borne at least some fruit. Last year, South Korea’s industrial material, component and equipment imports added up to US$261.462 billion and those from Japan accounted for 15.1 percent of the total, the lowest ratio ever. When it comes to 100 key materials, components and equipment, the ratio fell from 32.6 percent to 21.9 percent from 2018 to 2022.