Chey Tae-won in Gwangju: “We’ll start building the fab first even if water and power are delayed ... semiconductor demand is rising rapidly”

[Financial News] SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited the planned site of a semiconductor production plant in the Honam region on the 9th and said, “Even if water and power are delayed, as long as we can get the timing aligned quickly, we’ll go in first. We’re not particularly focused on saving on construction costs.”
Chey stressed that global semiconductor demand is still surging rapidly and outlined plans to move quickly on construction of a semiconductor plant in the Honam region. Attention is focused on whether the development of a production system linking Yongin, Cheongju and the southwestern region will be accelerated to meet growing demand for AI memory.
Chey made the remarks to reporters while visiting the site designated for the relocation of an ammunition depot at Gwangju Military Airport with Min Hyeong-bae, mayor of Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City. SK hynix executives have inspected the site before, but this was Chey’s first personal visit to the military airport site.
Asked about the planned size of the Honam semiconductor plant, Chey said, “For now, we’re planning a facility two-thirds the size of Yongin,” adding, “If there’s more land, we expect this site to get bigger.”
Chey continued, “Demand for semiconductors is growing rapidly, so we need to accelerate the pace of supply,” adding, “Once conditions allow us to build, we’ll build as soon as possible—as quickly as we can. I can’t say exactly when that will be, but we’ll do it as soon as possible.”
Explaining why he visited the site that day, Chey said, “Seeing it with my own eyes is more important than hearing a hundred words, so I came to check.” He added, “I expect semiconductor demand to continue growing quite rapidly. That’s why we also brought forward completion of the Yongin fab by 12 years.”
Chey said, “I came because I thought even that wouldn’t be enough, and I estimated that if another complex is needed, it should be built in parallel.” He added, “I came to check how quickly it could be built.”
As Chey spoke of a race to ramp up semiconductor production, underscoring the need for new plants alongside expansion of existing production hubs to meet demand growth driven by the spread of AI, attention is turning to whether construction of a semiconductor plant in the Honam region will gain momentum.
The Honam semiconductor cluster is a project in which Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will each invest 400 trillion won to build two memory production plants apiece, four in total. Since the area around Gwangju Military Airport was selected as the site in July, companies and local governments have continued on-site consultations.


[email protected] Kim Hak-jae Reporter