New Facility Investment for Yongin Semiconductor Cluster

Accelerating Planned Investment To Preemptively Address Surging Global Market Demand

In Yongin, South Korea, the towering frame of a semiconductor fab has emerged, reaching the height of a 50-story apartment building to form the massive Yongin Semiconductor Cluster. With construction gaining momentum, SK hynix announced Feb. 25 that it has decided to invest approximately 21.6 trillion KRW (15 billion USD) in the new facility for the first fab by the end of December 2030. This brings the total investment for the construction of the first fab to approximately 31 trillion KRW (approx. 21.5 billion USD), which includes the approximately 9.4 trillion KRW (approx. 6.5 billion USD) facility investment previously announced in July 2024.

This investment comes from a strategic decision to proactively address rapidly growing global customer demand and further strengthen supply system stability. With the expansion of advanced industries such as AI, data centers, and high-performance computing (HPC), the demand for high-performance and high-density semiconductors is also experiencing structural growth. To keep pace with these changes, SK hynix aims to expand production capacity ahead of schedule and establish a foundation to ensure a stable supply of products for customers when they require it.

Driving the Market with Large-Scale Investment To Meet Mid-to-Long-Term Demand and to Accelerate Technology Advancements

The projected investment scale for the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster is expected to increase significantly compared to the previous level. Under the Act on Special Measures for Strengthening the Competitiveness of and Protecting National High-Tech Strategic Industries, the floor area ratio (FAR) for industrial complexes that house strategic technology companies has been eased to up to 1.4 times the statutory limit. As a result, cleanroom space has been expanded, and the updated investment figure reflects these structural changes while factoring in inflation. (※ Equipment installation costs are not included.)

SK hynix’s large-scale investment plan is now underway, as the additional facility investment demonstrates, leading to substantial infrastructure expansion on-site. Moving forward, SK hynix will continue to make investment decisions based on a comprehensive assessment of customers’ mid-to-long-term demand forecasts and the pace of technological advancement — going beyond reacting to demand and instead anticipating and leading the direction of the market’s future growth.

Strengthening Customer Responsiveness by Expanding Production Capacity and Accelerating Cleanroom Opening

Specifically, the investment focuses on completing the first fab shell and building out all of the cleanrooms for Phases 2 to 6. As a result, the fab will comprise two building shells and six cleanrooms in total, enabling SK hynix to proactively secure physical production capacity and further strengthen its responsiveness to customer demand.

Thanks to efficient process management with safety as the top priority on site, the opening of the first cleanroom is expected to be moved up from May to February 2027. In line with this accelerated operational readiness, the company aims to establish a practical operating system in a timely manner, ensuring an agile response to future demand. Accordingly, SK hynix aims to strengthen customer trust and further solidify its leadership in the global semiconductor market.

Yongin Semiconductor Cluster: Leading the Global Market and Strengthening South Korea’s AI Competitiveness

As demand for advanced chips skyrockets in the looming AI era, securing large-scale production capacity and a stable supply system has become more critical than ever. Accordingly, the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, through its phased investment approach, is poised to position itself as a strategic base that will shape the future competitiveness of South Korea’s semiconductor industry.

Furthermore, this latest investment will serve as the catalyst for accelerating the establishment of a mutually beneficial ecosystem with over 50 partner companies within the cluster. Through close collaboration, SK hynix aims to ensure that expanded production capacity leads to shared growth for materials, components, and equipment (MCE) companies. By generating such synergies, the company seeks to build the world’s largest semiconductor cluster — leading not only South Korea but also the global market.