Min Hyeong-bae, mayor of the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city, said Friday that SK Group would soon announce a large-scale investment plan worth around 100 trillion won ($70.7 billion).
Min made the remarks during an opening address at a closed-door meeting with the city council at the Muan chamber of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City Council, partially disclosing SK Group's investment plans for the eastern part of South Jeolla Province.
SK Group has said it will pour 400 trillion won into the Honam semiconductor cluster to build semiconductor fabs, AI data centers and related production facilities. Of that total, investment in AI data centers and production equipment is expected to be directed to the eastern region of the province.
"There has been a lot of talk about the eastern region being left behind, and I hope those concerns can be eased somewhat," Min said. "The specifics will be announced by the company itself, but since this has been under discussion for a long time and I was told it was fine to disclose today, I am sharing it with the council."
He added that while the Honam semiconductor cluster had been described as housing four semiconductor fabs, a discussion with Korea Electric Power Corp. on Wednesday about power supply for the semiconductors — during which he consulted Samsung Electronics — suggested the number could grow to nine: five from Samsung Electronics and four from SK Group.
Samsung Electronics and SK Group had previously announced plans to build a combined four semiconductor fabs — two each — on the military airport site.
Min said both Samsung Electronics and SK Group could build additional fabs on the military airport site and surrounding areas.
The government also said at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting that it was reviewing plans to expand the semiconductor national industrial complex slated for the Gwangju military airport site beyond the originally planned four fabs, depending on corporate demand.
The Gwangju military airport site spans approximately 8.25 million square meters — large enough to accommodate significantly more fabs than the four originally planned.
The government and the companies involved are reviewing a plan to develop up to nine fabs in total after the first fab is completed in 2029, building on the initial four.
The government and companies set to participate in the Honam semiconductor cluster are also surveying a wide range of industrial land beyond the national industrial complex candidate site at the military airport, including areas in Gwangju's Nam-gu, industrial complexes in Naju, and Muan.
sij@heraldcorp.com
