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South Korea Unveils Plan for Southwestern Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub
The government announced 800 trillion won in corporate investment to create a new memory chip cluster in Gwangju and Jeolla provinces. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix each committed to two new fabrication plants. The project aims to complement the existing Yongin cluster.
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South Korea on Monday unveiled a plan to build a semiconductor manufacturing hub in Gwangju and the surrounding Jeolla provinces through 800 trillion won (US$518 billion) in corporate investment, Yonhap reported. President Lee Jae Myung announced the plan during a nationally televised investment briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.
Samsung Electronics plans to build two new memory chip fabrication plants in the southwestern region, while SK hynix plans to construct two additional fabrication plants there.
The four plants will form a memory manufacturing complex supported by a network of suppliers. The new cluster is intended to complement the Yongin semiconductor cluster currently under development. Samsung said Gwangju is the leading candidate for its new production base due to expected local government incentives for electricity, water, and workforce development.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong stated the company plans to expand robotics investments in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and to build high-bandwidth memory production facilities in Chungcheong Province. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won announced plans to invest 1,100 trillion won in semiconductor projects, of which 400 trillion won will go to the southwestern region.
He also said the group will accelerate previously announced projects in Yongin and Cheongju.
The four fabrication plants alone will require 6.3 gigawatts of electricity and about 650,000 metric tons of water. The government plans to utilize alternative water sources including multipurpose dams and water currently allocated for power generation.
