Lee Hyoung-il, candidate for South Korean finance minister, speaks during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, September 15, 2026.
Kim Hong-ji | Reuters
The semiconductor boom will last at least until 2027, South Korean Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-Il said on Saturday.
“For now, we think we can maintain this growth at least until next year,” Lee told CNBC on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok. “This is because the gap between demand and supply of semiconductors is still very wide and supply continues to widen.”
His comments come after semiconductor stocks fell sharply this week, hurt by investor concerns about rising interest rates and growing competition from Chinese companies. South Korean chip stocks like SK Hynix and Seoul Semiconductor participated in the sale, alongside American giants like Nvidia.
Chip stocks have fueled volatility in the South Korean stock market this year, Lee said. He attributed the wild market fluctuations to the semiconductor industry’s larger share of the economy than in other countries. Despite market fluctuations, South Korea’s economy is “strong,” Lee said.
On Thursday, an opinion column in the Maeil Business Newspaper, a leading South Korean publication, urged the country’s government to prepare for the next downturn in the artificial intelligence boom. The author said two experts expected an “influx of new offerings” in semiconductors that would turn the memory market “into a red ocean” by 2029, according to a CNBC translation.
While South Korean semiconductors may be behind stock market volatility, the industry has also fueled tax growth. Lee said the country expects to collect more taxes than initially planned this year.
South Korea will ultimately be in a stronger fiscal position thanks to the chip boom, he added.
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