(Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics has hired veteran engineer Lin Jun-cheng, who previously worked at the tech giant’s foundry rival, Taiwan-based TSMC, according to local reports on Thursday.

Lin was recently appointed as senior vice president of the advanced packaging team under Samsung’s chip business division, Device Solutions. His key responsibility is expected to be overseeing the development of cutting-edge packaging technology, which plays a key role in enhancing advanced higher-performance chips.

Before joining Samsung, Lim, an industry veteran, worked at TSMC from 1999 to 2017 and then served as CEO of Taiwanese semiconductor equipment maker Skytech.

The new appointment comes as Samsung beefs up efforts to strengthen its prowess in chip packaging under the leadership of Samsung’s co-CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, who oversees Samsung’s chip business overall. A task force is also said to have been launched last year to speed up the commercialization of advanced packaging technology.

Last year, Samsung also hired Kim Woo-pyeong, a former engineer at Apple -- another archrival -- as head of the company’s packaging solution center in the US.