South Korea on Monday reacted positively to a US plan to award up to $6.4 billion in grants to support Samsung Electronics Co.'s chipmaking investment in central Texas, calling it a "favorable" result.

The assessment came after Washington said it has reached a nonbinding preliminary agreement with Samsung to provide the grants under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the tech giant's expected investment of more than $40 billion, in the establishment of a "leading-edge semiconductor ecosystem" in the state.

"The government has consistently conveyed the message to the United States, requesting nondiscriminatory and favorable treatment in regard to investments by South Korean companies," an official at the industry ministry told Yonhap News Agency by phone.

The official said the latest announcement appears to be aligned with such a request, calling it a "positive" result.

The much-anticipated announcement came after TSMC Arizona Corporation, Intel Corp., GlobalFoundries, the American subsidiary of BAE Systems Plc and Microchip Technology Inc. were also selected as beneficiaries as part of US efforts to strengthen its domestic semiconductor production.

Noting that the amount flagged for Samsung is relatively bigger in portion compared with overall investment amounts by the beneficiaries, the official said the US seems to have factored in the importance of investments by South Korean firms.

In terms of the size of grants for the firms, excluding loans, the amount expected to be awarded to Samsung is the third-biggest after Intel and TMSC, but is the highest in portion to the size of expected investments at 14.2 percent. (Yonhap)