Hsinchu, Taiwan, March 5, 2002 - UMC (NYSE: UMC) today made the following statement in response to the recent partnership announcement by ST Microelectronics.

UMC would like to clarify its relationship with ST Microelectronics to address the announcement by ST Microelectronics, Phillips and TSMC regarding a joint technology development program. ST Microelectronics and UMC have a multi-year foundry agreement in place with three additional years remaining that will in no way be affected by this announcement. Furthermore, it is our understanding that this joint development program does not include any volume commitments for foundry outsourcing, and that ST Microelectronics is free to transfer the resulting technology to any other foundry. Therefore, due to our long-term relationship with ST Microelectronics and our existing foundry agreement, we are confident that that the relationship between our companies will continue to prosper.