South Korea gets rich, the U.S. turns hostile

The United States has finally taken action against South Korea.

This time, it's not about cars, not about steel, nor about tariffs.

It's about memory.

On June 25th, Samsung and SK Hynix were collectively sued in a federal court in California. Alongside them in the defendant's dock was Micron, an American company.

It even targets its own kind.

The charge is colluding to create the RAMpocalypse (Memory Apocalypse). The three companies are accused of using the pretext of AI transformation to cut the production capacity of traditional DRAM and drive up memory prices by 700% in four years.

Four days later, South Korea responded. Kim Jung-kwan, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea, announced: Invest 800 trillion won in four new wafer fabs and fully bet on storage in the next 15 years.

While the United States takes action, South Korea steps up its efforts.

This is not an ordinary anti - monopoly case. The first real - scale resource war in the AI era has begun.

1. South Korea Stands at the Center of AI Profits

Let's first look at a set of core figures.

In 2026, the global net profit pool of AI will be approximately $637 billion. According to Altimeter's calculation, the profit distribution is as follows:

The United States takes 49%, about $314 billion. The core is NVIDIA, which alone takes $207 billion.

South Korea takes 35%, about $223 billion. Samsung and SK Hynix together account for $222 billion.

Combined, the United States and South Korea account for 84% of the global AI profits. All other countries share the remaining 16%.

Today, the global AI business essentially involves the United States and South Korea dividing the spoils. NVIDIA takes the lion's share, and the two South Korean giants take the second - largest share. All other countries combined account for less than 20%.

South Korea's 35% of the profits come from an extremely concentrated source: HBM (High - Bandwidth Memory).

There are only three global giants capable of mass - producing high - bandwidth memory. SK Hynix accounts for 57%, Samsung 22%, and Micron 21%.

NVIDIA is the king of GPUs. However, GPUs need HBM to work. One H200 requires 141GB of HBM, and one B200 requires 192GB. Each GPU needs to be paired with 6 to 8 HBM chips. Without HBM, GPUs are idle.

That is to say, in the AI era, the throughput bottleneck of hardware is not GPU computing power but storage bandwidth.

Thus, a situation of supply - chain game has emerged. The better NVIDIA sells, the more South Korea earns. The faster NVIDIA expands production, the greater South Korea's demand.

Every time GPT is trained, South Korea makes money. Every time an Agent is deployed, South Korea makes money. Every time a new AI data center is added, South Korea still makes money.

How much exactly? In the first quarter of 2026, SK Hynix's operating profit margin reached 72%, exceeding NVIDIA's 65% and TSMC's 58%, setting a new global record in the semiconductor industry.

It netted 40 trillion won in a single quarter. That's a daily net profit of over 2 billion yuan.

From July 2025 to April 2026, in just nine months, South Korea saw the emergence of 100 companies with a market value of over a trillion won. The last time South Korea achieved the same growth, it took 10 years.

The total market value of the South Korean stock market has doubled, exceeding $5 trillion, surpassing India to become the world's sixth - largest stock market. The KOSPI index has risen by 70% this year, breaking through 7,000 points.

The book wealth of South Korean families has increased by over 1,000 trillion won, approaching 40% of the annual GDP. The whole nation is involved in stock trading, with a large number of residents buying Samsung and SK Hynix stocks, doubling their book assets.

South Korea is experiencing a national wealth - creation movement driven by AI chips.

2. Why Did the United States Turn Against South Korea?

Let's return to that lawsuit.

On the surface, this is a consumer rights - protection case. DRAM prices have increased by 700%, and consumers can't stand it anymore, so they sued the manufacturers for monopoly.

But upon closer inspection, there is a detail.

The defendants are not just Samsung and SK. Micron is also in the defendant's dock.

American consumers sued an American chip company along with the South Korean ones.

Why?

Because what the United States is really worried about is not a single company, nor even the price itself.

It's a bigger problem: AI is turning storage into the new oil.

Over the past two decades, the United States has firmly controlled the key positions in the semiconductor industry chain, including CPUs, GPUs, EDA, operating systems, and software ecosystems.

Today, it suddenly discovers that the most crucial layer of AI infrastructure is actually in South Korea's hands.

Samsung and SK Hynix have a "criminal record." In 2005, the two companies pleaded guilty in the United States for DRAM price - fixing, paying a total fine of $731 million, and several senior executives went to prison.

The lawsuit specifically dug out this history, trying to establish a pattern of "systematic collusion."

What about Micron? Micron was not sued in that case. This time, it is listed as a co - defendant, but it is an American company with factories in the United States. It is receiving subsidies under the federal government's "Chip Act" and is building new wafer fabs in Idaho and New York.

Let's look at this situation.

The U.S. government is pouring money into Micron to build factories. With a domestic investment plan of $50 billion, it has received $6.1 billion in federal subsidies. The Trump administration is even considering converting the subsidies into equity investment, just like it did with Intel, to hold direct shares. Trump publicly praised Micron at a rally.

On the other hand, consumers sued Micron along with the two South Korean companies.

It's a case of "killing one thousand enemies while losing three hundred of your own." But the United States still did it.

The reason is that what really annoys the United States is that South Korea, through two companies, has taken 35% of the global AI industry's profits. And American consumers and businesses are paying the bill.

3. Memory Price Hikes Are Not Just About Collusion

Let's first clarify a fact. Storage prices are experiencing a strong cyclical upswing, and this trend will not stop in the short term.

Jefferies Financial Group predicts that in the third quarter of 2026, memory prices will rise by 40% to 50% quarter - on - quarter, and continue to rise by 30% to 40% in the fourth quarter. In 2027, the prices will increase by 40% to 45% year - on - year. It may not show a significant slowdown until 2028 at the earliest.

But who is responsible for this price surge?

The lawsuit claims it's the collusion of the three manufacturers. But what really happened is much more complicated than what's stated in the lawsuit.

In the past, the production volume of DDR memory and HBM in a wafer fab was balanced according to market demand. If the demand for DDR was high, more DDR would be produced.

AI has changed this balance.

The wafer area of an HBM chip is twice that of an ordinary DDR chip. In 2026, HBM is expected to account for 25% of the global DRAM wafer production capacity, and the demand is growing at 70% annually. The global total production capacity is only increasing by 14%, and the share for traditional DRAM is only increasing by 10%.

Global large - model companies are frantically expanding their data centers. NVIDIA's GPUs are selling at full production capacity, and each GPU requires a large amount of HBM. It's a rational business decision for the three manufacturers to shift their production capacity to HBM, as the profit margin of HBM is 72%, while that of ordinary DRAM may only be 20% to 30%.

Given this profit gap, any enterprise would choose to shift to HBM.

The problem is that the three companies together account for over 95% of the global DRAM market. When they all make the same decision simultaneously, even without sitting in a meeting room to discuss, the effect is no different from collusion.

This is a structural problem of the oligopoly market.

As a result, the more prosperous AI becomes, the higher the cost of ordinary computers, mobile phones, and servers. Apple was just the first to pass this bill on to consumers, and it won't be the last.

American consumers don't care about the details. They only know that a DDR5 memory stick, which cost $200 four years ago, now costs $1,400.

4. The Lawsuit Is Just on the Surface

If we only look at the surface, this is an anti - monopoly lawsuit. The companies may have to pay compensation, reach a settlement, or the lawsuit may drag on for years.

But in a broader context, the function of this lawsuit is to exert pressure.

The United States' real demand is clear: storage manufacturing must return to the United States.

Micron has received $6.1 billion in subsidies under the Chip Act, with a goal of investing $50 billion in the United States by 2030 to achieve 40% localization of DRAM production capacity.

The logic is straightforward. The 35% of the global AI profits are flowing to South Korea because the manufacturing capabilities of HBM are in South Korea. If Micron can grab a larger share, these profits will return to the United States.

A single lawsuit has three effects:

First, it exerts legal and public - opinion pressure on South Korean companies, increasing their operating costs in the U.S. market.

Second, it buys time for Micron. Micron's New York wafer fab has been postponed, with production now scheduled to start in 2030 instead of 2028. Micron needs time to catch up. By dragging down its competitors, the lawsuit helps itself.

Third, it strengthens the national - security narrative. If the court finds that South Korean companies have manipulated prices, there will be a legitimate basis for subsequent policy interventions in the storage - chip supply chain.

To put it simply, the United States persists in pushing forward with the lawsuit because the long - term benefits outweigh the short - term losses.

5. South Korea Is Doubling Down

After the U.S. anti - monopoly lawsuit, South Korea didn't offer an explanation. Instead, it directly responded with a national - level industrial investment plan.

On June 29th, South Korea officially announced a trillion - dollar semiconductor investment, which is essentially a bet on the construction of the Yongin Semiconductor Super - cluster. This is not just about building a few wafer fabs but about concentrating everything from HBM design, materials, packaging to mass production in the same area.

This highly integrated industrial chain can shorten the R & D iteration cycle and gain a generational advantage over newly built, overseas - dispersed production capacity.

Financially, the two major semiconductor giants' investment plans exceeding a trillion dollars are supported by abundant cash flows.

South Korea's logic is clear: If you sue, I'll expand production. If you try to hold me back with the law, I'll outpace you with scale.

Moreover, South Korea has an advantage that the United States cannot replicate: speed.

SK Hynix has a profit margin of 72%. Samsung's operating profit in the first quarter of 2016 was 57 trillion won. They have sufficient cash flows to support production expansion and don't need to wait for government subsidies to go through the process.

Micron's New York factory won't start production until 2030. South Korea's new wafer fabs may start shipping products as early as 2028.

This time difference is South Korea's moat.

Kim Jung - kwan, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea, said that the global storage - chip market will quadruple in size in the next five years. South Korea believes that the market is growing much faster than the United States can catch up. As long as the AI demand continues to explode, South Korea's lead in production capacity will continue to expand.

6. Symbiosis or Conflict?

Looking from a broader perspective.

In the past, the world competed for who had more users.

Today, the world has started to compete for who has more capabilities to produce intelligence. GPUs, HBM, electricity, and data centers, which used to be hidden in computer rooms, are becoming new national - level strategic resources.

NVIDIA is the biggest winner in the AI era. There's no debate about this.

But SK Hynix and Samsung are upstream of NVIDIA. Each NVIDIA GPU needs to be paired with 6 to 8 HBM chips. Without HBM, a GPU is just a useless piece of silicon.

This is a dependency that the United States cannot cut off unilaterally. NVIDIA can't do without South Korea's HBM. Micron only has a 21% share, and its production capacity is still under construction. At least until 2028, NVIDIA's dependence on the South Korean supply chain won't change fundamentally.

The United States' dilemma is that it helped raise NVIDIA, but NVIDIA's supply chain has sent the largest share of profits to South Korea.

The profits of GPUs go to the United States. The profits of HBM go to South Korea. Together, they account for 84% of the global AI profits. For the first time, AI has enabled a country with a population of less than 52 million to stand at the second - tier of the global technology profit chain.

There is symbiosis because they need each other. NVIDIA needs HBM, and South Korea needs NVIDIA's orders.

There is also tension because the profit distribution won't remain the same. When the scale is large enough, the distribution method itself will trigger conflicts.

Today's lawsuit is just the first public manifestation of this tension.

So, the United States' lawsuit against Samsung and SK today is not just about price. South Korea's crazy construction of wafer fabs is not just about making money.

What they are competing for is not chips but positions in the next - generation global industrial system.

Words Beyond the Page:

I checked the outcome of the 2005 DRAM price - fixing case.

Samsung pleaded guilty and was fined $300 million. SK Hynix pleaded guilty and was fined $185 million. Together with Elpida (a Japanese memory company), the total fine was $731 million. Several senior executives went to prison.

Twenty years ago, the United States sued South Korean chip companies because storage was hurting the procurement costs of Dell and HP. That was a story of the PC era.

Today, the United States is suing South Korean chip companies because the HBM transformation has shifted the global AI profit center to Seoul.

It's the same type of case, but the era has changed. The last time it was a trade dispute; this time it's a competition for industrial sovereignty.

I don't know how this lawsuit will be characterized when we look back in five years. But I have a judgment:

It may be the first landmark event in the resource competition of the AI era.

GPUs, HBM, electricity, and data centers are becoming the new oil, steel, and railways of the new era.

And we all know the stories of oil, steel, and railways. Every time, they end up becoming national - level issues.

This time will be no exception.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Beyond the Page". Author: Editor Jun. Republished by 36Kr with permission.