HSINCHU, Taiwan, July 16, 2008 - UMC (NYSE: UMC; TSE: 2303), a leading global semiconductor foundry, announced that Mr. Stan Hung has been elected to the position of UMC Chairman and Dr. Shih-Wei Sun to the position of CEO in a board meeting held today. The election was held after Chairman and CEO Dr. Jackson Hu announced his decision to resign from active leadership of the company and pursue a role as a senior advisor to UMC. The appointment of a youthful, professional management team is aimed at the revitalization of UMC and the enhancement of its focus on delivering customer-oriented foundry solutions.

Dr. Hu commented, "During my 5-plus years of service at UMC, I have been very impressed by the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved in the organization. I feel that I have accomplished many of my objectives and that the timing is right for a younger and more energetic management team to take over. I feel very confident entrusting the leadership of UMC to the new Chairman, Stan Hung, and the new CEO, Dr. Shih-Wei Sun."

Incoming UMC Chairman Stan Hung said, "We are thankful for Dr. Hu's many contributions to UMC over the years. Going forward, UMC remains committed to serving our customers with the best possible foundry services while enhancing the strength of our financial structure and controlling costs to maximize the benefits for our customers, shareholders and employees."

Chairman Hung graduated from Tam Kang University in Taiwan with a degree in accounting. He has served as UMC's Chief Financial Officer, and previous to this appointment was senior vice president. He is also Chairman of NexPower Technology Corporation.

Dr. Shih-Wei Sun added, "My top priority as CEO will be to ensure that we deliver solutions that target our customers' success as they face these times of economic uncertainty. We will focus on enhancing our customer-oriented services and solutions, with an emphasis on teamwork and execution."

Dr. Shih-Wei Sun is currently UMC's Chief Operating Officer, accountable for 12-inch operations and business. He joined UMC in 1995 and has been responsible for the operation of UMC Fabs 6A, 8AB, 8D, and 12A, along with Central R&D. Prior to joining UMC, Dr. Sun worked for Motorola in the Advanced Products Research and Development Laboratory (APRDL) for 10 years. He received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University in 1985.

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that manufactures advanced system-on-chip (SoC) designs for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC's SoC Solution Foundry strategy is based on the strength of the company's advanced technologies, which include production proven 90nm, 65nm, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. The company employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.