Jusung Engineering董事长称ALG设备已在5月首次出货并拟投1000亿韩元扩建研发

Hwang Chul-ju, chairman of Jusung Engineering (036930.KS), stressed that Korea's semiconductor industry should focus its direction on developing world-first technologies. His view is that the existing success formula of localizing commercialized foreign technologies alone offers low odds in the global battle for semiconductor supremacy. In May this year, Jusung Engineering shipped advanced equipment after 30 years of research, attempting to leap to becoming a semiconductor "super supplier" in the artificial intelligence (AI) era.
In an interview with the Seoul Economic Daily conducted on the 14th at its research and development (R&D) center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Hwang said, "Korea's semiconductor industry has grown so far by making existing technologies cheaply, and as a result, it has failed to create a 'standard.'" He added, "For Korean industry, which has climbed to the top of the imitation economy, only innovative technology with no competitors can serve as a new stepping stone for growth." His point is that a "second-place strategy" of manufacturing cheaply based on advanced-nation technology cannot elevate a company to the top.
As the reason to pour efforts into technological innovation even if it takes a long time, Hwang emphasized market leadership. "A company with innovative technology can set prices directly, since it has no competitors even if it has some shortcomings," Hwang said. "Nvidia also saw its revenue stagnate for 20 years before the AI industry blossomed, but by monopolizing the graphics processing unit (GPU) market, it rose to become an innovative company recognized around the world."
The product Jusung Engineering has developed as a world first this time is a full-integration equipment for atomic layer growth (ALG) transistors. Based on the technology that made it the world's first to mass-produce atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment in 1997, the company has once again made a bold bet. Deposition refers to the process of forming a thin film on the surface of a semiconductor. "If ALD is a method of accumulating like snow, ALG has a structure that condenses solidly like ice," Hwang said. "It can make semiconductors more densely and firmly." He added, "A process that was previously possible only at high temperatures above 1,000 degrees can now be implemented at below 400 degrees." Thanks to this, transistors can be implemented on any substrate without expensive single-crystal silicon wafers, he explained.
The ALG equipment, first shipped in May, is expected to be used not only in the semiconductor industry but also in the solar power and display industries. "It is more important than anything to solve the power shortage in the AI era, and this can significantly lower the manufacturing costs of solar power equipment, while in the display market it can reduce micro-LED production costs to the level of LCD," Hwang said. "ALG equipment exports will increase, centered on the North American market."
The growing importance of such cutting-edge technology is also linked to China's semiconductor rise. As the Chinese government, facing U.S. semiconductor sanctions, pushes self-reliance policies such as prioritizing purchases of domestic equipment, the local semiconductor equipment industry is also growing rapidly. According to market research firm Yole Group, China's semiconductor equipment localization rate rose from 8% in 2021 to 23.2% in 2025. "In China, (demand companies) even buy products with defects, and its engineers, capital, and market size are far greater than Korea's, so there is no reason it cannot catch up," Hwang stressed. "We must abandon the arrogance of thinking that only we can run the semiconductor industry."
He also diagnosed that now, when semiconductor demand has greatly increased due to expanded investment in AI data centers, is the golden time to widen the gap. "AI data centers run 24 hours a day, and because semiconductors are heavily consumed during computing, their lifespan is short, so the semiconductor industry cycle could disappear," Hwang said. "As global big tech companies like Tesla have also jumped into producing their own semiconductors, it is a good opportunity especially for the Korean equipment industry."
Jusung Engineering plans to further strengthen its R&D competitiveness to continue its "world-first, only one" strategy. It plans to invest more than 100 billion won on a site right next to the Yongin R&D center to establish a second Yongin research institute. "We will generate synergy capabilities among semiconductors, displays, and solar power, and create innovative value even in a rapidly changing market environment to secure future growth engines," Hwang concluded.