KISDI Premium Report (22-04) Published “Ten Questions and Answers for Technology Hegemony in the U.S. and China: Semiconductor, Computing Stack, and Strategic Leverage Building Direction in the Technology Hegemony Era”

Technology alliance in advanced technology areas means “participation in a technology cartel”

Contribution to the national interest by pursuing long-term competitiveness.

The technology alliance and cooperation with the U.S. and western nations in the advanced technology fields such as semiconductors is a kind of club goods where the innovation-leading nations participate and the benefits are only accessible to participating nations. Thus, we need to participate actively and increase our own share.

Direction of our leverage-strengthening policy within the technology alliance and partnerships

▲ All opportunities provided by the technology alliance such as joint R&D, investment, human exchange, etc. should be used to the fullest extent possible; ▲ incentive competition with competitive nations is promoted such as deregulation efforts and support of human resource development because mutual competition such as subsidy competition may exist within the technology alliance and partnership; ▲ in addition to semiconductors, it is necessary to seize all the opportunities provided by the technology alliance in major advanced technology fields to secure strong competiveness in the increasingly intensified technological hegemony in the nuclear power, battery, bio, space, and defense industries

KISDI (President Ho-yeol Kwon) published the KISDI Premium Report (22-04) “Ten Questions and Answers for Technological Hegemony in the U.S. and China: Semiconductor, Computing Stack, and Strategic Leverage Building Direction in the Era of Technological Hegemony” recently.

The U.S.-China technological hegemony competition is occurring on three fronts of an economic war, military and national security competition, and information war involving the control and diffusion of information focusing on semiconductors and computing stack, which are the key technologies geared to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This report analyzed the current status of the U.S.-China technological hegemony competition through the “10 questions and answers”. Notably, this report suggested the concept, significance, and development trend of semiconductor technology, the competitiveness of major countries such as S. Korea, the U.S., and Japan, along with each country's leverage focusing on semiconductors. In addition, this report forecasts that the U.S.-China conflict, which is currently focusing on semiconductors, will expand throughout all areas in the Fourth Industrial Revolution encompassing the advanced manufacturers and platform services for the long term

<10 questions as to the U.S.-China technological hegemony>

1. How are the U.S. and China competing for hegemony and what is the difference between the two nations?

2. What is the significance of technological hegemony in the U.S.-China competition and what are the means being mobilized to compete in which fields?

3. Why are semiconductors important in the technological hegemony competition? What is the current status of competition between major nations such as the U.S., China, and South Korea?

4. What is the concept of semiconductor technology, meaning, the trend of development and the status of South Korea?

5. What is the status of competition for technological hegemony in fields other than semiconductors?

6. What is the role of big tech in the future war with the advent of technological hegemony competition era?

7. Why is the technological alliance and cooperation between the U.S. and South Korea important and what are the relative roles of governments and private companies?

8. What are the prospects for technological hegemony and semiconductor technology?

9. What is the leverage-building strategy to expand the influence of the U.S. and China and how should we respond?

10. Additional remark: It is necessary to prepare for various contingencies even if the present possibility does not seem high, and it is necessary to try to find answers to the following questions to prepare for future uncertainty.

It analyzed the significance of the participation in the U.S.-led technological alliance, which had relatively more advantageous leverage, through the exclusive technological cartel perspective to stress the greater benefits to secure long-term competitiveness above the short-term market loss risk, and presented our leverage-building strategy under the alliance.

Senior Research Fellow Gae-iyong Choi emphasized that South Korea needed to strengthen its leverage in the partnership and future supply chain, rather than focusing on whether South Korea will join the semiconductor partnership with the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan. This is because from our point of view, it is reasonable to respond to the restructuring of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain as the long-term benefits (response to the demand for new industries in the future and strengthen technological competitiveness) outweigh the short-term risks (the risk of potential market loss), and not participating in this would lead to a loss of long-term competitiveness.

Finally, the report proposed issues that are likely to be controversial in the future regarding semiconductor and platform services, advanced technology, and security.

For reference, Gae-iyong Choi published a book titled “The Age of Cold Peace: U.S.-China Technological Hegemony after the Ukraine War” recently, which analyzed the competition strategy on semiconductors and AI as the key to the technological hegemony between the two nations, the system between democracy and authoritarianism, and the link between values and technology policy, while delivering powerful insights.