South Korea is pushing to disperse its semiconductor production base beyond the capital area, but simply moving fabs may deliver limited results, industry voices say. The government plans to allocate over 40 percent of its National Growth Fund to non-capital regions and offer special subsidies to relocating materials, parts and equipment firms. Officials also aim to build regional specialisation, but supply-chain depth, engineers’ response times, power costs and local settlement conditions are seen as decisive.

Korea Exchange will strengthen post-listing oversight of KOSDAQ companies listed under technology and profit-unrealised special tracks and set a basis for running a system to publish lists of low price-to-book ratio firms. It will also refine rules for listings involving issuers of multiple-voting shares. The exchange said revised listing rules and detailed regulations take effect from July 2 as follow-up measures to initiatives to boost trust and innovation in KOSDAQ and improve capital market fundamentals.