SK Hynix Breaks Ground on Phase 1 Fab at Yongin Cluster... Target Completion in May 2027

SK Hynix has broken ground on the first phase fab (fab·semiconductor manufacturing plant) within the semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

According to SK Hynix Newsroom on the 25th, SK Hynix officially started construction of the first phase fab in the Yongin semiconductor cluster the day before.

SK Hynix originally planned to begin construction of the first phase fab next month, but Yongin City expedited the permit process ahead of schedule and approved the construction on the 21st, advancing the planned start date.

Yongin City signed a business agreement with SK Hynix in April last year to promote early production line construction and revitalize the local construction industry, and subsequently formed a building permit task force (TF) to accelerate the permit process.

The Yongin semiconductor cluster, to be built on a 4.15 million square meter (approximately 1.26 million pyeong) site in Wonsam-myeon, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is a semiconductor industrial complex consisting of the SK Hynix fab (about 600,000 pyeong), a materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) company cooperation complex (140,000 pyeong), and infrastructure land (120,000 pyeong).

SK Hynix plans to sequentially build a total of four fabs in the Yongin cluster. The first phase fab aims for completion in May 2027.

SK Hynix intends to make this site a production hub for next-generation DRAM memory, including high bandwidth memory (HBM), and to timely respond to the rapidly increasing demand for AI memory semiconductors, thereby establishing a mid- to long-term growth foundation.

SK Hynix explained, "Together with over 50 semiconductor SoBuJang companies within the cluster, we will also play a role in enhancing the competitiveness of South Korea's semiconductor ecosystem."

SK Hynix plans to establish a 'minifab' inside the first phase fab to assist domestic SoBuJang small and medium enterprises with technology development, demonstration, and evaluation.

The minifab is a research facility equipped with 300mm wafer processing equipment for demonstrating semiconductor SoBuJang, providing partner companies with an environment similar to actual production sites to help improve their own technology completeness.

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group visited the Yongin cluster site during land development in September 2023, stating, "The Yongin cluster is the most planned and strategically advanced project in SK Hynix's history," and emphasized, "Challenges beyond what we have done so far are necessary."

In July last year, SK Hynix's board of directors resolved to invest approximately 9.4 trillion won to build the first phase fab and office facilities in the Yongin semiconductor cluster.

Recently, in line with the start of construction of the first phase fab, SK Hynix has also begun recruiting experienced employees to handle infrastructure construction such as plant construction, equipment, electrical, mechanical, piping, project management, and safety management.

In addition to the Yongin fab, SK Hynix is expanding production capacity by building M15X, an HBM production base in Cheongju, scheduled for completion by the end of this year, to meet the increasing demand for HBM.

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