Anchor: President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the world's leading supplier for the semiconductor industry, ASML, in Veldhoven on Tuesday during his state visit to the Netherlands. At the firm’s headquarters, Yoon vowed to enhance direct communication between Seoul and Amsterdam and provide all necessary assistance for the success of joint semiconductor projects.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is on a four-day state visit to the Netherlands, visited ASML, which is the world's sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet lithography(EUV) machines used to make advanced microchips.

Yoon asked ASML and other Dutch semiconductor-related companies to cooperate closely with South Korean firms in an appeal based on the consensus that the Netherlands’ advanced technology in chip manufacturing is crucial to dominate the next-generation semiconductor market.

The president then vowed to enhance direct communication between the governments of South Korea and the Netherlands and provide all necessary support for the success of joint projects in the chip sector.

During the visit, the two countries also signed memoranda of understanding, including an agreement between Samsung Electronics and ASML to jointly invest one trillion won to build an R&D center for next-gen chipmaking technology.

In another deal, SK Hynix and ASML will jointly develop a technology to reduce power consumption by recycling the hydrogen of EUV machines.

Meanwhile, ASML revealed the production process of its next-gen EUV machines for the first time to a foreign leader as Yoon was taken on a tour of the facility.

The president’s senior secretary for economic affairs, Park Chun-sup, said such a move demonstrates the deep trust and importance of strategic cooperation between ASML and South Korean chipmakers.

On Wednesday, Yoon is meeting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss the establishment of a new dialogue on semiconductors among other ways to boost economic and security cooperation.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.