Chey Tae-won visits Honam semiconductor site, says cluster could surpass Yongin in scale

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won answers reporters' questions Friday afternoon after visiting the military airport site in South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City. [Yonhap]

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City on Friday to inspect the planned site of the Honam semiconductor cluster, saying the complex is being designed at about two-thirds the scale of the Yongin campus — but could grow even larger. "If there is more land and more demand, this site will surpass Yongin," Chey said.

Chey toured the military airport site and an ammunition depot area in Gwangju alongside SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung and other senior executives.

It was Chey's first visit to the South Jeolla-Gwangju semiconductor factory site since SK hynix announced a 400 trillion won ($299 billion) investment plan for the Honam semiconductor cluster in June.

Asked about the purpose of the visit, Chey said the company had already moved up the Yongin cluster's completion date by 12 years, but that was still not enough. "It looks like circumstances will arise where we will have to build in parallel — at both Yongin and South Jeolla-Gwangju — if necessary, so I came to check how quickly we can build here," he said.

On the question of when construction would begin, Chey said demand was growing so fast that supply needed to be accelerated as much as possible. "If conditions here allow us to build, we will do so at the fastest possible pace," he said.

With power and water infrastructure cited as prerequisites, Chey said the company was prepared to move ahead even if those utilities were delayed, as long as piling work could proceed on schedule. "Even if water and power are late, our thinking is to go in first as soon as we can get the piling done," he said. "We have no intention of cutting corners on construction costs."

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (left) speaks with South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City Mayor Min Hyeong-bae at the ammunition depot site in South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City on Friday about plans to develop the Honam semiconductor cluster. [SK hynix]

SK hynix had previously announced plans to build two semiconductor fabrication plants in the Honam region. Chey signaled the possibility of further expansion on Friday, saying, "If there is more land and more demand, I fully expect the Honam cluster to grow larger than Yongin."

South Jeolla-Gwangju Special City Mayor Min Hyeong-bae and other officials were on hand at the site to brief the delegation on industrial complex development plans and the status of key infrastructure preparations, including land, power, water and transportation.

Mayor Min said the city would provide firm backing for SK hynix to build and operate a world-class semiconductor factory under optimal conditions, pledging support not only for core infrastructure such as land, power and water, but also for talent development and residential amenities.

Chey immediately directed his executives to work closely with the central government and local authorities to push forward the Honam semiconductor cluster project as quickly as possible.

Chey's visit to South Jeolla-Gwangju is expected to accelerate SK Group's Honam semiconductor cluster project.

An SK hynix official said global demand for AI memory chips was surging and market growth was accelerating, even as competition intensified. "With strong support from the central government and local authorities, we will continue to invest at pace and contribute to strengthening South Korea's dominance in AI semiconductors," the official said.

joze@heraldcorp.com