Samsung and – Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix said they will invest a combined 800 trillion won ($518 billion) to build a new computer chipmaking hub in South Korea’s southwest, with President Lee Jae Myung joining the companies’ chairs to announce the plan. The move is de
By Monday, the message was clear: South Korea’s biggest chipmakers want the next phase of artificial intelligence to run through the southwest.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced they will invest a combined 800 trillion won. or $518 billion. to build a new computer chipmaking hub in the country’s southwest region. President Lee Jae Myung joined the companies’ chairs at the event to unveil the plan. which also aligns with the government’s push to move investment beyond the greater Seoul metropolitan area—South Korea’s economic center and the heart of its semiconductor sector.
The companies said the southwest has been a priority because it lacks major industrial hubs and has historically lagged in economic development. The region has also long been a political base for Lee’s liberal Democratic Party. adding a layer of regional ambition to a project driven by global tech demand.
Samsung and SK Hynix—together producing about two-thirds of the world’s memory chips—plan to build in the southwest by expanding beyond their existing manufacturing complexes in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul. Each company said it would construct two fabrication plants in the region.
Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong said the new fabs will be built in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Experts have proposed several potential sites there, including the grounds of a military air base slated for relocation. The timeline for when the fabs will be completed was not specified.
SK Hynix Chairman Chey Tae-won framed the effort as massive by design. describing it as a complex. large-scale project that would require “vast sites. along with sufficient power. water and skilled workers.” Chey said it took nine years for SK Hynix to establish its major manufacturing cluster in Gyeonggi Province. and he added that a significant expansion is still needed for the company to keep up with global demand.
Questions about whether the southwest has enough power and water to support major semiconductor fabs were dismissed by government officials. They said the region’s strength in renewable energy would give the chipmakers an edge as the industry faces growing global pressure to shift toward cleaner sources of electricity.
The financial backdrop for the announcement is strong. Samsung and SK Hynix have reported record profits in recent months. Government officials and business experts linked the surge to soaring global investment in data centers and other AI infrastructure, which has boosted demand for memory chips.
As the technology spreads, expectations are for demand to keep rising. Government officials and business experts said AI-driven demand will increase as AI-powered industrial robots and autonomous vehicles come into wider use. They also suggested the chipmakers’ existing semiconductor complexes in Gyeonggi Province may reach capacity sooner than expected. making the southwest expansion feel less like a bet on tomorrow and more like preparation for immediate pressure.
During Monday’s event, government officials outlined plans to build what they called a nationwide semiconductor ecosystem. Existing manufacturing hubs in the southeast are set to expand production of chip components and materials. while the central Chungcheong region focuses on chip packaging. Data centers, meanwhile, would be built across the country.
President Lee said the plan is meant to move faster than competing nations in the building phase of the AI economy. “We must establish the core building blocks of artificial intelligence faster than any other country. Semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers are the three pillars of our next great leap forward,” the president said.
A key detail is what the companies didn’t offer: no completion dates for the fabs. The promise is enormous—800 trillion won—but the clock for when the new capacity will actually come online remains unknown.
Samsung SK Hynix AI investment semiconductor hub Gwangju Gyeonggi Province Chungcheong memory chips data centers South Korea 800 trillion won