Medium- to long-term investment strategy announced Monday

Yongin cluster to receive 600 trillion won by 2033

Cheongju to expand as NAND and packaging hub with 100 trillion won

Southwest region chosen for large-scale site availability and infrastructure

Specific location to be finalized in talks with government, local authorities

'30% of sales' capex principle remains unchanged

An artist's rendering of the planned Yongin semiconductor cluster [SK hynix]
An artist's rendering of the planned Yongin semiconductor cluster [SK hynix]

SK hynix has drawn up a semiconductor investment strategy totaling 1,100 trillion won ($712 billion), allocating 600 trillion won to Yongin, where fab construction is already underway, 100 trillion won to Cheongju, and 400 trillion won to a newly announced cluster in the country's southwest.

The company disclosed the medium- to long-term investment plan Monday through a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service and its corporate newsroom. Construction at the Yongin semiconductor cluster is being accelerated to meet surging demand for memory chips, while Cheongju is set to serve as a key AI semiconductor hub centered on NAND flash production.

Also on Monday, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won attended a national briefing on three major mega-projects at Cheong Wa Dae, where he announced plans to build a new cluster in the southwest region.

The Yongin semiconductor cluster's first fab is set to begin clean-room operations in the first quarter of next year. The project had originally been scheduled for completion in 2045, but the timeline has been moved up by 12 years. Reflecting updated demand projections, the company now aims to complete construction of a fourth fab by 2033. Including production equipment and facilities to be installed after construction, total investment is projected to reach 600 trillion won.

Cheongju is being positioned as an AI semiconductor hub. SK hynix plans to accelerate investment in additional NAND production capacity at the existing site and expand manufacturing capabilities there. A total of 100 trillion won will go toward new NAND fabs as well as advanced packaging lines for high bandwidth memory (HBM) back-end processing.

Despite expanding its production base around Yongin and Cheongju, SK hynix said capacity remains insufficient to meet demand, given that investment in AI data centers is expected to keep growing. According to Nomura Securities, global AI data center investment is forecast to rise more than sevenfold over five years, from $466 billion in 2025 to $3.38 trillion in 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 48 percent.

Chey has also emphasized the need to expand production capacity. At Computex in Taipei, Taiwan, earlier this month, he said the company would "double total production capacity on a whole-wafer basis within the next five years."

SK hynix has designated the southwest region as its next major production base, committing 400 trillion won to site acquisition, fab construction and equipment installation. Preparations for the Yongin cluster alone took nearly nine years, and the company said the early announcement reflects its intent to get ahead of future demand.

SK hynix selected the southwest region primarily for the availability of large sites suitable for major fab construction. The proactive stance of central and local governments on providing infrastructure — including power and water supply — was also cited as a positive factor. The specific location will be finalized after a comprehensive review of infrastructure conditions and site availability, in consultation with relevant authorities.

The southwest announcement has prompted some observers to watch whether SK hynix will follow with additional investment disclosures at home or abroad. That attention stems in part from an interview Chey gave to Japan's Nikkei on June 11, in which he mentioned Japan as a potential semiconductor investment destination.

SK hynix said it could consider additional production bases as memory demand continues to grow, taking into account factors such as large-scale site availability, power and water infrastructure, the semiconductor ecosystem, and opportunities for collaboration with customers and partners. Overseas locations could be considered if those conditions are met, the company said, though it added that no specific plans exist at this stage and that any decision would be guided by market conditions.

Despite announcing an investment plan exceeding 1,000 trillion won, the company said its capital expenditure discipline — introduced at the end of 2024 to safeguard financial health — remains firmly in place, with capex capped at 30 percent of sales. "This investment will not be executed all at once, but will be carried out in stages over a long period in line with demand visibility," the company said. "While it will be grounded in cash flow generated from operating profit, we will flexibly adjust the scale and timing of financing to suit market conditions."


jeongwan@heraldcorp.com