SK Hynix and others have passed the Government's deliberations on the special land area of the industrial complex site applied to establish a large-scale semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do. SK Hynix has welcomed the news.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Ministry of Industry) said that the additional land supply of SK Yongin Industrial Complex in Gyeonggi-do had been authorized as a result of the deliberation by Metropolitan Area Maintenance Committee (Practical Affairs Committee and Main Committee) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.
SK Hynix requested the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Industry and Tourism to give special quantities for the metropolitan are industrial complex land through Gyeonggi Province and Yongin City to secure about 4.68 million square meters of land needed to construct four semiconductor manufacturing plants. In the metropolitan area, the quantity of industrial complexes is fixed. Thus, special quantities must be allocated to build additional large industrial complexes.
In this deliberation, SK Hynix Semiconductor Cluster has been recognized as a national necessity. Semiconductors are the number one export product, accounting for a very large share of the national economy. The Ministry of Industry has emphasized that it is the right time to invest in the sector to preoccupy the future market share and strengthen competitiveness. Also, it said that it is necessary to create clusters to foster downstream industries such as materials and equipment and to create synergy between large enterprises and small- to medium-sized companies. The reasons for considering Yongin were cooperation with other semiconductor companies, securing excellent professional talents, and the connection with existing SK Hynix factories.
The Industrial Policy Committee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation has notified the public of plans for designating industrial complex for the relevant land in the second quarter. After that, until the second quarter of 2020, there will be applications for the approval of the industrial complex plans including the analysis of environmental, traffic and disaster impacts, consultation for exclusive use for agricultural land and mountain areas, in addition to consultations with related organizations. SK Hynix's first Yongin factory is scheduled for construction in 2022 and will begin production in 2024 in earnest. In the future, a total of four manufacturing factories will be constructed and more than 50 domestic and overseas partner companies will move into this complex area.
SK Hynix announced that it “welcomes” the news. Lee Seok-Hee, CEO of SK Hynix, said, "We will invest four factories (FAB) by investing 120 trillion won when the factory site is completed in 2022. We will cooperate with more than 50 equipment, materials, and parts suppliers at home and abroad."
CEO Lee also said, “For over 10 years after the first semiconductor fab fabrication, we plan to create win-win funds, establish an AI-based win-win cooperation center, promote win-win programs, and support joint-venture research and development of 1.22 trillion won.”
The Ministry of Industry announced that it plans to resolve the investment related issues by forming a joint government investment support team having the Director of the Industrial Policy Department as the Head of the new support team.