Investment plans expected to be unveiled at Cheong Wa Dae public-private meeting Monday

Front-end process inclusion seen pushing total outlay into the hundreds of trillions of won

President Lee met Chey Tae-won Friday and is set to meet Lee Jae-yong Thursday ahead of announcement

AI data center development in Chungcheong region also expected to be part of package

A construction site for Samsung Electronics' P5 factory at its Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
A construction site for Samsung Electronics' P5 factory at its Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are pushing to build a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region ahead of the July 1 launch of the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city. Plans to establish AI data centers in the Chungcheong region are also under discussion.

With a prolonged supply shortage driven by surging AI chip demand, the two companies are looking to build new production facilities in Honam — a region rich in renewable energy — to expand capacity while aligning with the government's regional balanced-development agenda.

Calls from Honam politicians and civic groups earlier this year for the geographic decentralization of semiconductor production facilities now appear to be gaining traction, coinciding with the ongoing memory chip supply crunch.

According to political and business circles Wednesday, companies plan to announce large-scale regional investment packages at a public-private joint meeting on "National Spatial Transformation (Regional Balanced State)" to be chaired by President Lee Jae-myung at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday.

The most closely watched element is the semiconductor production facility plans to be unveiled by the country's two export powerhouses, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Samsung Electronics currently operates a home appliance factory — producing air conditioners and other products — in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, but has no semiconductor production facilities there. SK Hynix has its production bases in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, and Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

If the investment is confirmed, it would mark the first time either Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix has established new semiconductor production facilities in the Honam region.

President Lee Jae-myung shakes hands with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong upon arriving at a business roundtable held at a hotel in Rome, Italy, on June 12 (local time). [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung shakes hands with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong upon arriving at a business roundtable held at a hotel in Rome, Italy, on June 12 (local time). [Yonhap]

Both companies are understood to be considering investment that goes beyond the back-end packaging facilities previously reported, extending to front-end processes as well. Analysts say that scope could push the total investment into the hundreds of trillions of won.

Semiconductor manufacturing is divided into front-end processes, which involve etching circuits onto wafers, and back-end processes, which package finished chips into their final product form. The packaging stage — the final step in back-end processing — involves arranging chips side by side or stacking them vertically before sealing them into their finished form.

Should the Honam region secure large-scale semiconductor production facilities covering both front-end and back-end processes, analysts expect it to emerge as the country's second major semiconductor cluster after the Greater Seoul metropolitan area.

Ahead of the investment announcement, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met President Lee on Friday. Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong is scheduled to meet the president Thursday to finalize the details of the investment plan.

The investment package is also said to include plans to build AI data centers — regarded as core AI infrastructure — in the Chungcheong region.

There is also speculation that Chey will travel to Gwangju in person Tuesday to announce the Honam semiconductor cluster plan, while Lee Jae-yong may outline the AI data center investment in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, on July 2. The announcements are expected to be made directly by the respective group heads to underscore the significance of the investment to the public.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and Democratic Party lawmaker Song Young-gil pose for a photo at a workshop for newly elected Democratic Party members of the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city council, held at Davichi Condo in Boseong-gun, South Jeolla Province, on the afternoon of June 16. [Yonhap]
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and Democratic Party lawmaker Song Young-gil pose for a photo at a workshop for newly elected Democratic Party members of the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city council, held at Davichi Condo in Boseong-gun, South Jeolla Province, on the afternoon of June 16. [Yonhap]

The push gained momentum after a semiconductor industry strategy briefing chaired by President Lee last December, at which power supply constraints facing the Yongin semiconductor cluster — being developed by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix — emerged as a key concern, prompting calls for future chip factories to be built in regional areas such as Honam.

Officials noted that transmitting power generated from renewable sources in Honam to the Yongin cluster would require running transmission lines through North Jeolla and South Chungcheong provinces, raising local acceptance issues. President Lee responded by saying, "From a balanced-development standpoint, it would be preferable for semiconductor production to take place in the regions as much as possible."

As a result, Honam — which has solar and offshore wind facilities along its southwestern coastline — has been cited as a candidate site for new semiconductor factories. Industry insiders say that for the Honam semiconductor cluster plan to deliver real results, infrastructure issues such as water supply and power must be resolved quickly.

SK Hynix announced plans in February 2019 to build a factory at the Yongin semiconductor cluster, but delays in resolving land compensation, power and water supply issues pushed the groundbreaking back to February last year.

A special act passed by the National Assembly in plenary session last March — establishing the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city — stipulates that the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy may designate the relevant area as a semiconductor industry specialized complex on a priority basis upon request from the mayor of the integrated special city.

Under the same framework, the state is required to swiftly develop and provide essential infrastructure for the semiconductor industry specialized complex, including power, water, waste treatment and road facilities. Costs may be covered in full or in part according to standards set by presidential decree.

60조 加 잠수함 수주전 발표 임박…韓 ‘뒤집기 한판’ 나올까

60조 加 잠수함 수주전 발표 임박…韓 ‘뒤집기 한판’ 나올까

[헤럴드경제=고은결 기자] 최대 60조원 규모의 캐나다 해군 차기 잠수함 사업(CPSP) 우선협상대상자 발표가 이르면 이달 말로 임박하면서, 한국과 독일 간의 막바지 수주전
https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10786142?sec=027

joze@heraldcorp.com