US companies have urged President Moon Jae-in of South Korea to release Samsung’s chairman Lee Jae-yong, arguing that the billionaire executive could boost Joe Biden’s efforts to shake off American dependence on computer chips produced in foreign countries.
Samsung is weighing multibillion-dollar investments in new semiconductor facilities in the US, with the Seoul-based group considering sites in Austin, where it already has one chipmaking factory, as well as Phoenix and New York.
In the wake of the economic disruption wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, the US government and businesses are desperately trying to localise supply chains for crucial technologies, including semiconductors.