Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used to determine the presence of germanium and phosphorus in a pure gold bonding wire. The samples were dissolved with hydrobromic acid and nitric acid at room temperature. The quantitation limits were 0.012 mg L-1 at 265.118 nm for Ge and 0.009 mg L-1 at 177.495 nm for P. Using the mixed acid digestion formula of DIW+HBr+HNO3, the recoveries were in the range of 98-100% and the relative standard deviation was within 1.1-2.3%. On the other hand, the amount of Ge decreased by about 16.2% using DIW+HCl+HNO3, due to the formation of a volatile compound. The Ge contents determined using the external method and the standard addition method were 9.45 mg kg-1 and 9.24 mg kg-1, respectively, and the P contents, using the same methods, were 22.49 mg kg-1 and 23.09 mg kg-1, respectively. Both methods were successfully used to determine the trace amounts of P and Ge in the pure gold bonding wire samples.