Daegu Metropolitan City Makes All-Out Efforts to Develop a Key Hub for Semiconductor Test Design

【Financial News Daegu=Kim Jang-wook】Daegu Metropolitan City is making all-out efforts to develop a key hub for semiconductor test design in cooperation with South Korea’s No. 1 semiconductor test equipment company and local universities.
On the 3rd, Daegu Metropolitan City secured an investment agreement with TSE at Daegu City Hall’s Sangyeok Government Complex for the establishment of a Semiconductor Test Design Center. It also signed memorandums of understanding with Kyungpook National University (KNU) and Keimyung University to jointly develop related talent.
Mayor Choo Kyung-ho said at the event, "It is highly meaningful that TSE, a leader in the global semiconductor test solutions market, is expanding its research and development (R&D) base in Daegu and working with local universities to train talent." He added, "We will provide full administrative and policy support so that young people who study semiconductors in Daegu can settle in their hometown and grow into world-class design experts."
The Semiconductor Test Design Center plans to invest 30 billion won in advanced design equipment and other facilities by 2030 and hire 150 new R&D personnel.
It will then begin operations.
KNU and Keimyung University agreed to support TSE’s stable business expansion through industry-academic cooperation, including company-tailored workforce training and the development of employment-linked educational programs.
TSE is South Korea’s leading company in the design and manufacture of semiconductor test equipment. It supplies key test components to global technology companies and foundries, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Intel, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
TSE is the only company in the world that simultaneously develops and manufactures the three core hardware components used in semiconductor testing—probe cards, test sockets, and interface boards—and provides integrated semiconductor test solutions.
Amid a recent surge in global orders, TSE chose Daegu as its R&D hub to secure design personnel proactively, citing the city’s well-established semiconductor talent-development ecosystem. It will establish the Semiconductor Test Design Center by expanding the Daegu Circuit Design Center, which opened in December 2025.
Kwon Sang-jun, chairman of TSE, said, "We were able to decide to invest in establishing the Semiconductor Test Design Center in Daegu because we trust the outstanding talent produced by local universities, including KNU and Keimyung University." He added, "Through this investment, we will overcome the workforce shortage caused by the concentration of talent in the Seoul metropolitan area, develop Daegu into a key hub for semiconductor test design, and strengthen our competitiveness in the global market."
Meanwhile, the city will provide comprehensive support to help TSE successfully establish its operations, including securing office space, assisting with recruitment, and connecting the company with local universities for industry-academic cooperation.
The city also expects the recruitment drive to encourage semiconductor talent to settle locally. Building on its strength as the largest talent-development city outside the Seoul metropolitan area, it plans to accelerate efforts to attract semiconductor companies.
[email protected] Kim Jang-wook Reporter