Amkor Technology Korea has broken ground on an expansion of its advanced manufacturing line at its Gwangju factory, committing around 3 trillion won ($2.23 billion) to the project.
The South Jeolla Province-Gwangju integrated special city announced Monday that a ground-breaking ceremony was held at the Amkor Technology Korea factory in the Cheomdan Industrial Complex in Buk-gu for the expansion of an advanced semiconductor back-end production line.
Attendees included Amkor Korea Chief Executive Lee Jin-an, Mayor Min Hyeong-bae, Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Kim Dae-jung, Assembly members Ahn Do-geol and Jeon Jin-suk, and Min Woo Lee, director general of industrial growth at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Amkor plans to sequentially add new lines within the existing Gwangju factory (K4) site through 2031, proceeding in stages according to its phased capacity expansion plan.
The investment has more than tripled from an originally planned 1 trillion won to around 3 trillion won — the largest single investment by a foreign-invested company in South Korea since the Gwangju factory opened in 1999. The expansion is expected to create more than 2,000 new jobs, raising hopes for a boost to the local economy.
The city's swift administrative response was a decisive factor in the scale-up.
When Amkor requested support for wastewater treatment in connection with the factory expansion on Sept. 16, the special city immediately entered into talks with neighboring Jangseong-gun. With Jangseong-gun's agreement, a semiconductor wastewater treatment MOU was signed just two days after the company's request.
After confirming available capacity at the Jangseong wastewater treatment facility, Amkor promptly scaled up its investment plan to around 3 trillion won. The case is seen as an example of the integrated city resolving in a single administrative unit what would have been a difficult cross-boundary issue between separate city and county jurisdictions before integration.
The expansion also draws attention for its connection to the planned construction of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix fabrication plants as part of the Honam region semiconductor cluster, which is targeting its first mass production in 2030. Once the cluster is complete, a full-cycle semiconductor ecosystem — covering both front-end and back-end processes entirely within the South Jeolla Province-Gwangju area — could be built by linking the cluster with Amkor's back-end lines. Amkor is the world's second-largest semiconductor back-end processing company and the largest in the automotive semiconductor back-end segment.
The South Jeolla Province-Gwangju integrated special city plans to operate a regular consultative body with Amkor through its semiconductor industry division, conducting comprehensive reviews of key infrastructure support — including water and power — as well as permits and approvals.
"Amkor Korea's bold investment decision is the first step in the South Jeolla Province-Gwangju semiconductor mega-project and the starting point for Gwangju becoming a new center of South Korea's semiconductor industry," Mayor Min said. "We will focus all of our administrative resources on swiftly resolving any difficulties the company faces and ensuring the expansion and investment proceed without a hitch."
sij@heraldcorp.com
