Taiwan's rise to the center of the global chip industry is being held up as a model South Korea should copy — good news for Taiwan's standing, awkward news for Korean industrial policy.

• A new book, "Chipnomics," by South Korea's former representative in Taipei, Lee Eun-ho, argues Taiwan overtook South Korea in chips through reform, openness, and business drive.
• Taiwan cleaned up its financial industry structure in the 2000s and cut inheritance taxes sharply, keeping companies and capital from moving to Hong Kong or Singapore.
• In South Korea, passing a business to the next generation is treated as inherited wealth; in Taiwan it is treated as industrial policy, so small firms hand down technology, customer ties, and skilled staff.
• TSMC founder Morris Chang's rule of never competing with customers built an open ecosystem where chip designers, IP firms, equipment and packaging companies grow alongside it, instead of being swallowed by it.
• Taiwanese companies started pulling core technology and high-value production back home from China in the 2010s, and the longer a country waits to redo its supply chain, the more it costs.

Outlook: Expect closer Korea-Taiwan chip ties in the AI era, with SK Hynix's partnership with TSMC the relationship to watch.