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"Once the negotiations begin to make real progress, Micron will have access to all our important internal information, including prime cost information, through its technical investigation. An MOU does not obligate taking over the firm. Then, is there any counter-plan, in case the negotiations fall through after Micron gets its hands on all of our internal information?"
When one director asked this questions in a meeting of the board of directors of Hynix on April 30 last year, not a single negotiator answered the question. On that day, after long debate, the board of directors voted to make an MOU with the US firm, Micron.
In December last year, Micron CEO Appleton made a secret visit to Korea in order to show his intention to take over Hynix. At the time, the Ministry of Finance and Economy was satisfied with Micron¡¯s intention. In the 5 months that followed, Micron was allowed to obtain all of Hynix¡¯s internal information legitimately, through various investigations under the agreement of the Ministry.
Micron has now petitioned the US government for countervailing duties against Hynix, claiming that the Korean firm benefits from massive subsidies that violate WTO regulations. A Hynix official calls the move "cold hearted."
(Sunwoo Jeong, jsunwoo@chosun.com )
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