South Korea plans to establish a new semiconductor production base that would house four memory chip manufacturing plants in the southwestern region of the country, with investments totaling 800 trillion won ($517.9 billion).
Yonhap News Agency reported that Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan announced the investment plan to transform the southwestern region into the country’s second-largest semiconductor complex, alongside the existing one in the greater Seoul area. The announcement came at a national investment briefing chaired by President Lee Jae-myung at the presidential office.
The agency stated, “The semiconductor investment is part of the government’s “three mega projects” initiative, which calls for large-scale investments by chip giants Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., as well as other companies, in semiconductors, physical artificial intelligence (AI) and AI data centers.”
Quoting the minister, it added, “The Chungcheong region will be developed into an advanced semiconductor packaging hub through 81 trillion won in investment to meet growing packaging demand as chip production expands, while the Daegu and North Gyeongsang regions will be fostered as innovation hubs for semiconductor materials, components and equipment.”
The ambitious industrial blueprint is aimed at transforming the country from a global manufacturing powerhouse into a leader in the artificial intelligence era, anchoring its strategy on semiconductors, AI infrastructure and physical AI. (EIR)
