Japan hits South Korea with controls on key chemicals

Abstract

The Japanese government has imposed controls on exports to South Korea of three categories of materials that are critical to producing semiconductors and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. The materials are advanced photoresists, hydrogen fluoride, and fluorinated polyimides. The controls will likely affect the operations of Korean chipmakers because of Japan’s near monopoly on advanced photoresists needed to produce the latest generations of chips. Japan is also a major producer of the grades of HF and fluorinated polyimides used in electronic manufacturing. Two South Korean firms, SK Hynix and Samsung, are among the world’s five largest and most sophisticated producers of computer chips, particularly memory chips. “Production of semiconductors in Korea will be affected,” says Mikiya Yamada, a chemical and textile analyst at Mizuho Securities, a large Japanese stockbroker. South Korean firms also dominate the production of OLED displays. The measures reflect a deterioration in the “relationship of trust” between