SK’s Chey Says Next Chip Plant Site Will Be Decided After Broad Review

Chey Taewon speaks after Nikkei forum in Japan

‘If Korea doesn’t work, it could be overseas’

SK Group Chairman Chey Taewon said the company is weighing both domestic and overseas sites for its next semiconductor plant. His remarks suggest SK is accelerating its review of a major new investment as the artificial intelligence boom fuels what he called a semiconductor supercycle.

Chey spoke to reporters on June 10 after attending the Nikkei Forum at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. “Semiconductor demand is surging, so we have to keep building plants,” he said. Plans for investment beyond the Yongin semiconductor cluster have been brought forward, he said, adding that the company will decide where and how to build its next plant after a comprehensive review.

The Yongin semiconductor cluster project calls for four large chip plants in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The first plant is targeted to begin operations early next year.

Chey said any new plant after the Yongin cluster would need a full range of supporting infrastructure. It would be built where power, land, labor and water are all available, he said.

He also raised the possibility of building a semiconductor plant overseas. “If Korea doesn’t work, we may have to do it overseas,” Chey said. “It may not necessarily be built only in Korea.” He added that markets can react very differently once a plant is built and that customers, countries and other stakeholders need to be satisfied at least to a minimum degree.

For now, though, the company’s focus remains on the Yongin cluster. “Our biggest task right now is the Yongin cluster,” he said.

Chey’s comments came after President Lee Jae-myung urged companies to expand investment outside the Seoul metropolitan area during a news conference on June 8 marking his first year in office. Regional investment plans by Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. are expected to be discussed at a meeting later in June of major conglomerate chiefs hosted by Lee at the Blue House. Samsung Electronics is pursuing a plan to build an advanced packaging plant near Gwangju.

Chey also renewed his call for broader economic cooperation between South Korea and Japan. He said a Korea-Japan cooperation platform involving the government, politicians and the private sector is needed, and that he is willing to invest without hesitation in areas where the two countries can work together.

Asked about the possibility of SK hynix selling its stake in Japanese NAND flash maker Kioxia Holdings Corp., in which it invested in 2017, Chey said there is no specific plan yet. He added that the company needs to consider ways to grow together with the regions where it makes money.

Tokyo — Choi Man-su, correspondent / Noh Yoo-jung, reporter, Hankyung.com bebop@hankyung.com