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Did the U.S. Ask South Korea Not to Replace Micron in China?

The U.S. reportedly asked Seoul to discourage Samsung and SK Hynix from filling a potential gap after China restricted Micron purchases by critical infrastructure operators.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read

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Yes—according to a Financial Times report published in April 2023, the White House asked South Korea to encourage Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix not to replace Micron if China restricted sales of the U.S. chipmaker’s products. The reported request was not presented in the available sources as a written U.S. policy directive. China later announced a narrower measure: operators of critical information infrastructure should stop purchasing Micron products after the company failed a cybersecurity review.

What the U.S. reportedly asked South Korea to do

Reuters summarized the Financial Times report on April 23–24, 2023, which cited people familiar with the talks. The reported request was for Seoul to urge Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix not to fill a potential sales gap if China restricted Micron. The two South Korean companies compete with Micron and sell similar memory chips in China. Both had no comment on the reported request, according to Reuters.

The distinction matters: the account describes a reported diplomatic request, not a confirmed written instruction or public U.S. rule requiring the companies to withhold sales.

What China’s Micron measure covered

China’s Cybersecurity Review Office announced on March 31, 2023, that it had begun a cybersecurity review of Micron products sold in China. On May 21, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said Micron products failed the review and instructed operators of critical information infrastructure in China to stop purchasing them. The notice did not say that every Chinese company or consumer was barred from buying Micron products. China’s CAC announcement

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The CAC cited security risks as its rationale. That is the regulator’s stated finding; the announcement alone does not independently establish that Micron products contained a security vulnerability. The available source documents the measure announced in May 2023, but does not establish whether China later amended or revoked it or how it is enforced today.

Why Samsung and SK Hynix faced a difficult choice

Samsung and SK Hynix were positioned to compete for sales if Chinese buyers could no longer purchase Micron products. But replacing those sales could bring commercial and diplomatic consequences. A July 2023 analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) described the companies as caught between pressure from China and the United States.

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Changhan Lee, vice chair of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, told Reuters in May 2023: “In the long term, this won’t help anybody.” He was discussing the unpredictable conditions for investment.

How much China mattered to Micron

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reported in 2023 that China accounted for nearly 11% of Micron’s revenue in fiscal year 2022. That is a historical figure, not a current estimate of Micron’s China exposure. The available sources do not establish a reliable 2026 share.

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What the U.S. said after China’s announcement

On May 27, 2023, after China announced its measure, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Washington opposed the action. Reuters reported her describing it as economic coercion: “These ‘target a single U.S. company without any basis in fact, and we see it as plain and simple economic coercion and we won’t tolerate it, nor do we think it will be successful.’” That public statement came after the Chinese announcement and is separate from the April report about what Washington asked Seoul to do.

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