SK's Chey Tae-won vows to build Honam chip fab as fast as possible on Gwangju site visit

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won visited the planned site of the Honam semiconductor national industrial complex in Gwangju on October 9 and said SK would build there as fast as possible once it is able to, according to Kukmin Ilbo, Newsis, Hankook Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo. Chey said that even if the supply of power and water is delayed, SK would start construction first. Hankook Ilbo quoted him as saying he had little thought of saving on construction costs there, and Dong-A Ilbo quoted him as saying construction costs would not be spared. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]

Chey inspected the site where the ammunition depot of the Gwangju military airport is to be relocated, accompanied by Min Hyung-bae (민형배), mayor of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, and SK hynix executives including chief executive Kwak Noh-jung (곽노정), Dong-A Ilbo reported. Kukmin Ilbo put the visit at around 14:50, while Hankook Ilbo said it was at 14:00. Dong-A Ilbo reported that Chey received briefings on permits and infrastructure support from the Air Force 1st Fighter Wing and city officials, then inspected the depot site for 15 minutes. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

Chey said seeing with his own eyes mattered more than a hundred words, and that semiconductor demand was expected to keep rising quickly. He said SK had brought forward completion of its Yongin fab by 12 years but that this was not enough, so another site was needed and might have to be built in parallel. He said the visit was to check how fast facilities could be built there. On timing, Kukmin Ilbo quoted him as saying he could not answer when, and Hankook Ilbo quoted him as saying the pace would have to be recalculated against the state's plans to provide water and electricity. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

Chey said the Gwangju fab is currently planned at about two-thirds the scale of Yongin and that it could become larger if there were more land and demand. [ 3 , 4 ]

Min said the government, the National Assembly and local governments were preparing thoroughly, that SK working-level staff had already visited more than 10 times, and that the city had explained its plans for power and water infrastructure, Hankook Ilbo reported. [ 3 ]

Dong-A Ilbo reported that this was Chey's first visit to the site since June, when the government, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics announced they would invest a combined 800 trillion won to build four new fabs. It said about 2.08 million square metres of the planned 8.2 million square metre complex are to be developed first, with the aim of completing move-in agreements and permits by the end of next year, starting construction in 2028 when the military unit's relocation is complete, and mass-producing first products in June 2030. The paper said quick handling of remaining administrative steps, such as the airport relocation and the lifting of military facility protection zones, would decide the project's success. [ 4 ]