SK chief vows to speed up construction of new chip cluster in southwest

SEOUL, October 9 - SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won pledged on Friday to accelerate the development of a new semiconductor cluster in the southwestern region of South Korea to meet escalating global demand for chips. During a visit to Gwangju Air Base in Jeonnam-Gwangju, Chey stated that his company, SK hynix Inc., aims to build the new cluster as swiftly as feasible once all conditions are satisfied.

He further emphasized that the increasing demand for chips necessitates an accelerated supply chain to keep up. At present, Chey acknowledged, the company is working to expedite construction to meet the growing demand. While the exact start date remains undecided, Chey firmly stated that SK Group intends to commence construction as soon as possible.

Chey highlighted that the projected chip demand is anticipated to surge substantially, and the proposed cluster will be approximately two-thirds the size of the ongoing construction project in Yongin, located south of Seoul. This visit marked Chey's initial trip to the area since the conglomerate announced its building plan in June.

In the previous year, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled long-term investment strategies in the region, including plans to construct two new memory chip fabrication plants each. In July, Gwangju Air Base was chosen as the project site, with the government targeting a 2030 launch date for scale production.