Samsung’s Lee Says Gwangju Is Candidate for New Semiconductor Complex

Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee said Gwangju is being considered as a candidate site for the group’s next semiconductor investment.

Lee said Samsung needs to prepare a new chip complex as investment timelines at its existing Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek sites, along with the Yongin national industrial complex, have moved up.

He made the remarks on June 29 at the National Briefing on South Korea’s Three Mega Projects for a Great Leap Forward at the Blue House.

“Investment schedules for the Yongin national industrial complex have accelerated significantly, following Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, and the timeline for preparing a new complex has also been brought forward,” Lee said.

“Among several regions, we are planning Gwangju as a candidate site, as we expect substantial support there on power, water, labor and other infrastructure incentives,” he added.

Lee also said Samsung will center investment in advanced packaging in the Chungcheong region. He said high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, which is essential for training and inference in artificial intelligence models, requires advanced chip-stacking technology and production processes at the level of a main fabrication plant.

“HBM fabs will be concentrated in the Chungcheong region, including Cheonan and Onyang, together with existing semiconductor back-end fabs,” Lee said.

Samsung will place physical AI-related investment in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. Lee said the company will concentrate robot-related investment there, along with an AI data center for internal use across Samsung Group, in connection with future industries such as humanoid robots.

He also laid out regional investment plans for batteries, shipbuilding, components and bio. Samsung SDI will continue investing in next-generation all-solid-state batteries and battery energy storage systems, or BESS, centered on Ulsan. Samsung Heavy Industries will expand its next-generation shipbuilding business in Geoje.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics will increase investment in cutting-edge package substrates centered on its Busan plant. Samsung will also focus its bio business in Songdo, Incheon.

“Bio is one of Samsung’s strategic businesses and has strong growth potential, and we will concentrate investment in Songdo, Incheon, to develop it into the world’s largest bio complex,” Lee said.

Lee also stressed cooperation among the government, businesses and local authorities.

“If companies, the government and local governments join forces, I am confident we can build the irreplaceable Korea the president spoke of,” he said. “As a businessperson, I am honored to contribute.”

Lee Jung-woo and Shin Hyun-bo, Hankyung.com reporters