South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is travelling to the Netherlands on Monday for a state visit. The main topics of his talks with politicians and industrialists will be semiconductor co-operation and a potential “chip alliance”.
Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon Hee will visit the Netherlands from 11 to 14 December at the invitation of Dutch King Willem-Alexander, becoming the first South Korean president to pay a state visit to a European country since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1961. The presidential office said in a press release:
“The Netherlands, which is the biggest investor in South Korea among the member states of the European Union and the second-largest trade partner after Germany, is one of the world’s leading producers of chipmaking equipment and our key partner in the global semiconductor supply chain. The president’s state visit to the Netherlands is expected to further deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and semiconductors, and contribute to building a stable semiconductor supply chain.”
On the first day of their visit, Yoon and the first lady will meet with Korean residents of Amsterdam on 11 December at a dinner.
The next day, they will attend an official welcoming ceremony organised by King and Queen Maxima at Dam Square in the Dutch capital, then attend a reception at the Royal Palace, lay a wreath at the war memorial at Dam Square before returning to the palace for a friendly lunch with the King and Queen.
Later in the day, Yoon and the King will visit the headquarters of leading chip equipment manufacturer ASML in Veldhoven, where the two leaders plan to tour key facilities with the company’s CEO Peter Wennink and discuss ways to strengthen the two countries’ partnership in semiconductor supply chain and technology innovation.
On 13 December, the third day of his visit, Yoon will travel to The Hague, the seat of the Dutch government, where he will hold a joint meeting with the leaders of both houses of the Dutch parliament, followed by talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Yoon and Rutte will then hold a joint press conference, attend a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony and a lunch hosted by the Prime Minister.
After returning to Amsterdam the same day, Yoon will join the King in meeting with Dutch veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War and then attend a South Korea-Dutch business forum with key business leaders from the two countries.
The Netherlands has joined the United States and Japan in imposing export restrictions on the sale of the advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) chip products in China – its third-largest market after Taiwan and South Korea. ASML, a supplier to South Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS), is building a new assembly facility in South Korea with an investment of 240 billion won ($181 million), according to Yoon’s office.
