SK chief vows to accelerate Honam chip cluster construction as semiconductor demand surges worldwide

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said Friday that the company would move "as quickly as possible" to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities at a planned semiconductor cluster in Korea’s southwest, as demand for chips grows rapidly.

"If we determine that conditions are in place for construction, we will build as much as we can, as quickly as possible," Chey said during a visit to Gwangju air base, the proposed site of the Honam cluster.

Korea’s Honam region encompasses North Jeolla and Jeonnam-Gwangju.

While inspecting the site, Chey emphasized the importance of seeing the area firsthand.

“Seeing it with my own eyes is worth more than a hundred words,” Chey said to reporters. “We expect demand for semiconductors to grow rapidly.”

"We need to accelerate our expansion," he continued. "We've already moved up the completion schedule for Yongin [in Gyeonggi] by 12 years, but even that isn't enough."

Chey stressed the need to speed up construction to keep pace with rising demand.

"Semiconductor demand is growing rapidly, and we need to accelerate the pace of supply even further to catch up," he said.

Asked when construction could begin, Chey said further assessments were necessary but that his company will move as quickly as possible.

"We expect semiconductor demand to continue growing at a considerable pace," Chey said. "That means we'll need additional sites and semiconductor fabrication plants. We may even find ourselves in a situation where we have to build them simultaneously with the Yongin semiconductor cluster."

Chey explained that the visit was intended to assess how long construction would take and how the schedule could align with the development of essential infrastructure.

"We're here to assess how quickly we can build," he said. "Mayor [Min Hyung-bae] is working hard to prepare, and the government also needs to ensure that water and electricity supplies are in place. We need to recalculate how those infrastructure schedules can align with our construction timetable. I expect those details will be announced."

Chey additionally noted that SK could begin construction before electricity and water infrastructure is completed if doing so would speed up the overall project.

He also left open the possibility of expanding the Honam semiconductor cluster beyond its currently proposed scale.

"For now, we're considering a site about two-thirds the size of Yongin," Chey said. "If more land is available and demand continues to grow, it's entirely possible that the Honam cluster could become even larger."

Friday marked Chey's first visit to the proposed Honam semiconductor national industrial complex since the government, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics announced on June 29 that they would invest a combined 800 trillion won ($596 billion) to build four semiconductor fabrication plants.

Chey was accompanied by senior executives, including SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung. Chey first visited the control tower at Gwangju air base, where officials from the Air Force's 1st Fighter Wing briefed him on the condition of the proposed site.

He then received a briefing from officials of the Jeonnam-Gwangju government on infrastructure development, including electricity and water supplies, and the permitting procedures required to operate semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

Chey later visited the proposed relocation site for an ammunition depot and spent about 15 minutes inspecting the area to assess conditions on the ground.

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]