Ku Hyeok-chae (구혁채), first vice minister of South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, met Tom Arthur, junior minister for Business and Fair Work at the Scottish Government, in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss ways to cooperate in the semiconductor sector.

The meeting was arranged at Arthur's request during his visit to South Korea to attend the Social Enterprise World Forum. The two sides shared key semiconductor policies and industry trends, including South Korea's advanced fab operations and Scotland's photonics research and the status of its power semiconductor companies.

The two sides discussed the possibility of technology exchanges and research cooperation by drawing on South Korea's experience in operating semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure and Scotland's research and manufacturing infrastructure. They agreed that government support and the role of universities and research institutes are important for innovation in the semiconductor sector. They also agreed to seek opportunities for joint research and development and industry-academia cooperation.

Ku said building a cooperation network with the Scottish Government would be a major opportunity for mutual semiconductor innovation and research and development. He said he would continue communication so the two sides can achieve substantive research cooperation by combining their R&D capabilities.