• Company confirms investment for the construction of auxiliary facilities necessary for the initial operation of Yongin 1st Fab and the Cluster
• Yongin Cluster expected to increase the competitiveness of the Korean semiconductor industry and contribute to revitalizing the economy

Seoul, July 26, 2024

SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has decided to invest about 9.4 trillion won in building the first fab and business facilities of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster after the board resolution on the 26th.

SK hynix designs to start construction of the 1st fab to be built in the Yongin cluster in March next year and complete it in May 2027, and have received an investment approval from the board of directors prior to it. The company will make every effort to build the fab to lay the foundation for the company’s future growth and respond to the rapidly increasing demand for AI memory semiconductors.

The Yongin Cluster, which will be built on a 4.15 million square meter site in Wonsam-myeon, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is currently under site preparation and infrastructure construction. SK hynix has decided to build four state-of-the-art fabs that will produce next-generation semiconductors, and a semiconductor cooperation complex with more than 50 small local companies.

After the construction of the 1st fab, the company aims to complete the remaining three fabs sequentially to grow the Yongin Cluster into a “Global AI semiconductor production base.”

The amount of investment approved this time included various construction costs necessary for the initial operation of the cluster, including auxiliary facilities¹, business support buildings, and welfare facilities along with the 1st fab. The investment period was planned to be from August 2024 to the end of 2028, considering the design period to prepare for fab construction and the business support building scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2028.

¹Auxiliary facilities: Water treatment facilities, communal areas (facilities that can jointly accommodate underground facilities such as wires, communication lines, water supply and sewage pipes, heat transfer pipes), substation facilities, warehouses, etc.

The company will produce next-generation DRAMs, including HBM, a representative AI memory, at the 1st fab prepare for production of other products in line with market demand at the time of completion.

In addition, SK hynix plans to build a “Mini-fab²” within the first phase to help small businesses develop, demonstrate and evaluate technologies. Through the Mini-fab, the company will provide small business partners with an environment similar to the actual production site so that they can improve the technological perfection as much as possible.

²Mini-fab: Research facility equipped with 300mm wafer processing equipment to demonstrate semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment

“The Yongin Cluster will be the foundation for SK hynix’s mid- to long-term growth and a place for innovation and co-prosperity that we are creating with our partners,” said Vice President Kim Young-sik, Head of Manufacturing Technology at SK hynix. “We want to contribute to revitalizing the national economy by successfully completing the large-scale industrial complex and dramatically enhancing Korea’s semiconductor technology and ecosystem competitiveness.”

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”), flash memory chips (“NAND flash”) and CMOS Image Sensors (“CIS”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

Media Contact

SK hynix Inc.
Global Public Relations

Technical Leader
Sooyeon Lee
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

Technical Leader
Kanga Kong
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

The post SK hynix Board Approves Yongin Semiconductor Cluster Investment Plan first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

• Chey makes visit to construction site to inspect progress, encourage employees
• Future competitiveness, climate positive, innovation & co-prosperity presented as  new visions and roles for cluster
• Groundbreaking for first fab in cluster planned for 2025 with completion expected in 2027

Seoul, September 15, 2023

SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) said today that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited the construction site of Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Wonsam-myeon of Yongin city, Gyeonggi Province.

SK hynix said that Chairman Chey visited the site on Friday to inspect the construction progress and encourage employees as the Yongin Cluster site preparation began to pick up speed since June.

“Yongin Cluster is the most thoroughly and strategically prepared project on SK hynix history,” Chey said, calling for utmost efforts to guarantee the success of the cluster.

Putting the top priority on efficiency, Chey said that the project requires more than the challenges that the company has made so far. “What we plan and reflect in advance to stay ahead of others will shape our competitiveness in the future.”

Chairman Chey emphasized a deep commitment to climate and environment when building Yonging Cluster, reminding the participants of SK Group’s RE100 declaration.

“Attention on green energy will continue to rise and a failure to respond to this change would jeopardize our sales, so we have a very good reason to think about and reflect this.” He said that the cluster should be a ‘climate positive production base’, which provides future energy solutions and manufactures low-power, high-performance semiconductors.

He also urged the Yongin cluster to be a platform for innovation and co-prosperity by having the infrastructure that materials, components and equipment companies and high-caliber talents can freely use to lay foundation for innovation, given the difficulties of local companies and universities suffering from infrastructure shortages, including equipment and cleanroom.

In fact, SK hynix is working on building a ‘mini fab’ within the cluster in a joint project with the government. The mini fab, a 300mm wafer-based research and test facility, will support technologies and products developed by materials, components and equipment companies to be quickly applied to the mass-production process.

Chey also called for the cluster to provide jobs that the next generation prefers. “Designing a new future can be both challenging and delightful at the same time. I wish this project will be a fun challenge for all of us.”

Wishing safety of all the members participating in the project, Chey wrote on the visitors’ book that he wishes “a success of the Yongin semiconductor project where new spirits and history of challenges and innovation will lie.”

Alongside Chairman Chey, executives of SK Group affiliates taking part in the project, including SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho, CEO Kwak Noh-jung, and SK ecoplant CEO Park Kyung-il, and Kim Seong-goo, who heads Yongin General Industrial Complex Inc., a special purpose company (SPC) created to build a site for a semiconductor cluster, attended the site visit.

Once the site preparation is complete, SK hynix will kick off construction of its first fab in March, 2025 with completion expected in May, 2027.

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”), flash memory chips (“NAND flash”) and CMOS Image Sensors (“CIS”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

Media Contact

SK hynix Inc.
Global Public Relations

Technical Leader
Kanga Kong
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

Technical Leader
Joori Roh
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

The post SK Group Chairman Says Yongin Cluster to Make History as Platform for Semiconductor Challenges & Innovation first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.