The Republic of Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry’s Industrial Policy Office Deputy Minister Joo Young-joon chaired a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony for public-private joint semiconductor high-tech packaging technology development with a view to secure advanced packaging industrial competitiveness.

Representatives of semiconductor buyer companies like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) companies and fabless firms attended the ceremony, where they agreed to actively cooperate to nurture the semiconductor post-processing industry through the establishment of a virtuous cycle-based high-tech packaging eco-system and securing of leading technology in advanced packaging.

Advanced packaging has risen as a core technology due to increasing demand for multi-function chips with high density integration for realizing low-power and high-performance amid the need to overcome the limit of semiconductor miniaturization and to use a single package for individual devices.

MOTIE is currently making new R&D efforts related to advanced packaging in order to make timely market entries into the packaging sector and preparing to launch large-scale R&D projects with academia, R&D and industry experts for a system chip industrial level-up by securing technological hegemony in the global semiconductor high-tech packaging industry.

By incorporating the demands of foundry and integrated device manufacturer (IDM) companies, MOTIE plans to develop high-density, high-function and low-power advanced packaging super gap technology, secure core technologies of Korea’s MPE (materials, parts, equipment) and OSAT companies, and propel projects for collaboration with global chip OSAT companies and semiconductor-specialized R&D institutes in the U.S. and EU.