In an op-ed, the Global Times, an English-language sister newspaper of the state-run People's Daily, said U.S. industrial policies were directly affecting South Korea's semiconductor sector as a whole, citing Reuters' recent report that Samsung Electronics America (SEA) would relocate its headquarters from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to Texas, though the relocation involving more than 700 jobs is focused on consumer electronics and does not involve chips.
"Regardless of what may have prompted Samsung's move, the hand of US industrial planning is unmistakably present - and its impact is by no means confined to Samsung, because it bears directly on South Korea's semiconductor sector as a whole," it said.
It cautioned that excessive dependence on U.S. strategic priorities could make South Korea vulnerable amid Washington's continued push for greater semiconductor investment by South Korean companies, "not merely through subsidies and tax incentives, but through increasingly direct pressure."
"Simply following the U.S. strategic priorities will inevitably steer South Korea into an awkward and vulnerable position: as Seoul's semiconductor sector grows more dependent on Washington's strategic priorities, it risks becoming subordinated to U.S. interests," it said. "Given that the U.S. consistently places its own interests above all else, South Korea's industrial interests are all too easily marginalized, or even sacrificed."
It then said that South Korea faces a "long-term challenge" in maintaining its domestic industrial foundation "amid complex external pressures."
The latest warnings came after the news outlet cast doubt earlier this month on whether deeper cooperation between Seoul and Washington in the shipbuilding sector would produce meaningful results, while arguing that cooperation with China "remained important."
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