The K-Chips Act, the Electrical Network Act, tied to the impeachment phase...Semiconductor industry's 'amnesty price'

[Anchor]
The impeachment following the emergency martial law incident has turned a red light on the passage of major economic bills within the year.

In particular, the semiconductor sector is deeply sighing in the industry as both the "special semiconductor law" and the "power grid law," which were long-cherished, have been hampered.

Reporter Hwang Hye-kyung reports.

[Reporter]
The U.S. recently provided subsidies of $6.165 billion to Micron, its memory semiconductor company, and nearly 9 trillion won in our money.

In order to increase the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry, Japan has also decided to provide an additional 200 billion yen and nearly 2 trillion won in Korean money to its own company "Lafidus."

All of them are K-semiconductor rivals, especially U.S. Micron, which is a third-party closely trailing Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Unlike governments that fully help semiconductor companies, Korea has no basis for subsidies.

The Special Act on Semiconductors' has been established, but all discussions have been suspended due to the emergency martial law.

The ruling and opposition parties agreed to raise the R&D facility and equipment investment deduction rate, which is currently only 1%, to 20%, but even this failed.

[Park Soo-young / National People's Power (last 13th): The government and the ruling and opposition parties agreed to extend the R&D cost tax deduction to 7 years and the facility investment sunset to 5 years, but it has not passed our plenary session due to the political situation these days.. But foreign countries, the U.S. is moving at a very rapid rate to 25% deduction. What should I do about this problem?]

[Choi Sang-mok / Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs (last 13th): I think it is an urgent task. If you discuss it again at the National Assembly, the government will actively participate.]

In addition, the special law on the power grid, which will be responsible for the large-scale power supply of semiconductor factories, is still pending at the standing committee, making it unclear to deal with it by the end of this year.

Companies that have to go into production in line with next year's business plan are bound to be full.

[Ahn Ki-hyun / Executive Director of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association: If the bill is passed late, companies will also slow down. Investment slows down and technology development slows down. The slower you get, the less competitive you are.]

As there is still time until the end of the year, there is a possibility of a dramatic settlement along with the bill on people's livelihoods, but there is growing concern in the industry that it will be buried in the impeachment and political disputes and put on the back burner.

I'm YTN Hwang Hye-kyung.