President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers his speech as U.S. President Joe Biden listens during their visit to Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus in Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Yonhap

'Two nations work together to make the best, most advanced technology in the world and this factory is proof of that,' says Biden

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden presented a shared view that economic security is national security and that semiconductors are one of the critical technologies that will determine the future of the two nations' economies.

Speaking at Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus which he visited immediately after his arrival in South Korea, Biden made it clear why he chose South Korea as his first stop in his first Asia tour as president of the United States.

The U.S. president underscored that South Korea is a reliable, trusted partner sharing values with his country, noting that the global supply chains have been destabilized posing a grave threat to economic and national security.

"Now Putin's brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine has further spotlighted the need to secure our critical supply chain so that our economy and our economic and our national security are not dependent on countries that don't share our values," Biden said. "The critical component of how we'll do that in my view is by working with close partners who do share our values like the Republic of Korea to secure more of what we need from our allies and partners and bolster our supply chain resilience."

Biden stressed that the U.S. will not be dependent economically on countries that do not share its values, and that is why he is seeking to bolster supply chain resilience with Korea.

"Our two nations work together to make the best most advanced technology in the world and this factory is proof of that," Biden said. "That gives both the Republic of Korea and the U.S. a competitive edge in the global economy, if we can keep our supply chains resilient, reliable and secure."

President Yoon said he shares Biden's view that semiconductors are a core asset to national security and a key to the future of the Korean economy, vowing that he would do his utmost to give incentives and generous support to help the industry move forward.

"President Biden's visit to Pyeongtaek Campus not only manifests the significance of semiconductors in economic and national security but also gives an opportunity to recall the meaning of the Korea-U.S. global comprehensive alliance through semiconductors," Yoon said.

After touching down at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, at 5:23 p.m., Biden was welcomed by Foreign Minister Park Jin and headed straight to the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus, which is about 10 minutes away by helicopter from the U.S. Forces Korea facility.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are accompanying Biden, showing that the Yoon-Biden summit slated for Saturday will be focused on the security of the Korean Peninsula and bilateral industrial ties in semiconductor and other technologies.

U.S. President Joe Biden disembarks Air Force One after landing at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

The U.S. president and his delegation received a warm welcome from President Yoon and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Lee gave a guided tour of the plant for the two presidents.