SEOUL -- South Korea is funneling resources to realize domestic production of high-tech materials to end its semiconductor industry's dependence on Japan, but closing the technological gap with Japanese suppliers remains a tall order.
The restrictions Japan imposed in July on exports of chipmaking materials bound for South Korea has exposed the reality that the nation's bread-and-butter industry is reliant on Japanese technology. But the country's past attempts to churn out made-in-Korea etching gas have ended in failure, with the challenge of bringing products into commercialization often described as crossing the "Death Valley."
