Chey Tae-won: "No semiconductor plant investment in Japan has been finalized... We will disclose it once the review is complete"

[Financial News, Tokyo = Reporter Seo Hye-jin] Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, said on the 31st that rumors of a semiconductor plant investment in Japan were "nothing concrete has been finalized." He did acknowledge, however, that various options, including investment in Japan, are under review.
Chey, who was visiting Japan to attend the Korea-Japan Chamber Leaders Meeting in Sendai, answered a question about whether there were any plans to invest in a semiconductor plant in Japan this year by saying, "We are currently in the review stage." He added, "I will speak once the review is complete."
In his opening remarks at the first Korea-Japan Symposium on Low Fertility Countermeasures, held the previous day at The Westin Sendai, Chey also proposed a vision for a Korea-Japan economic community. "When the population is shrinking, we need to expand the size of the market," he said. "To create a larger market, the ties between the two countries must be strengthened to the level of a community."
Japan is a key market where SK hynix's suppliers and customers are concentrated. It is home to semiconductor materials maker Namics, equipment maker Tokyo Electron, as well as Sony Group and Nintendo. Micron Technology of the United States also operates a production facility in Hiroshima, Japan.
Japan's push to revive its semiconductor industry with massive subsidies is also seen as a reason for the investment review. The Japanese government has been actively providing subsidies for foreign semiconductor companies, including TSMC, to build and expand factories in Japan.
SK hynix holds more than a 14% stake in Japanese NAND flash maker KIOXIA through a special purpose company established by Bain Capital. Noh-Jung Kwak, CEO of SK hynix, also recently said, "We are carefully reviewing ways to jointly develop the NAND flash market with customers and suppliers."
On the 27th, SK hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony for its next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) advanced packaging plant in West Lafayette, Indiana. Attention is now turning to whether the company will expand its production and cooperation bases in Japan as well, following Korea and the United States.
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