Yongin SK Semiconductor Complex to Begin Construction Next Month

Due to Various Regulations, Groundbreaking Finally Underway... First Factory Expected to Operate in 2027

The area around Wonsam-myeon, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, where the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster general industrial complex will be established. (Photo provided by Yongin City)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Construction of the semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, will begin next month. If the construction proceeds smoothly, SK Hynix is expected to usher in the "Yongin era" around 2027.

On the 26th, Yongin City announced that Yongin General Industrial Complex, a special purpose company (SPC) responsible for the semiconductor cluster general industrial complex development project, has submitted a construction commencement report to the city. The commencement report is a document that signals the start of construction and includes detailed information related to the project such as the project name, construction cost, and contract date. The SPC plans to begin basic construction next month by installing fences and preparing the land on the already secured site. They will also conduct surveying, obstruction investigations, and exploratory excavations for buried cultural assets, while simultaneously proceeding with compensation procedures for the remaining land.

The groundbreaking ceremony is expected to be held around mid-next month. Given that President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol has emphasized the importance of the semiconductor industry, there is keen interest in whether he will attend the groundbreaking ceremony, as this is the first large-scale semiconductor investment project since the new government took office. If land preparation proceeds smoothly, formal civil engineering work is expected to start early next year. Industry experts predict that the industrial complex will be completed in 2025, and SK Hynix will immediately begin constructing semiconductor production plants, with the first factory expected to be operational around 2027. SK Hynix plans to invest approximately 120 trillion won in Yongin to build four semiconductor fabs. Additionally, more than 50 material, parts, and equipment partner companies plan to move into the area. If the plan proceeds as scheduled, a new semiconductor ecosystem is expected to be established.

SK Hynix also plans to support a total of 1.22 trillion won over ten years to create synergy with domestic and international partners and strengthen the ecosystem. This includes 300 billion won for establishing a win-win fund, 638 billion won for setting up a win-win cooperation center based on artificial intelligence (AI) and promoting win-win programs, and 280 billion won for joint R&D, to be supported sequentially. Once the cluster is established, SK Hynix will secure a monthly wafer production capacity of up to 800,000 units across four semiconductor plants. Through this, the government expects to generate 513 trillion won in production inducement, 188 trillion won in added value, and create more than 17,000 high-value-added jobs. With the opening of the Yongin era, SK Hynix’s domestic production bases will be divided into three major hubs: Icheon, which will serve as the headquarters and R&D forward base and a DRAM production site; Cheongju, which will be the NAND flash memory semiconductor production base; and Yongin, which will be the production base for DRAM and next-generation memory.

After establishing the industrial complex plan in 2019, the original goal was to start land development and construction of the cluster by last year and begin production at the first-phase factory in 2024. However, difficulties in land acquisition, securing industrial water, establishing power transmission lines, and environmental assessments caused delays. Although the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy approved the industrial complex plan in March last year, land compensation issues continued to cause difficulties, and only now is the groundbreaking ceremony being held.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.