South Korea’s semiconductor heavyweights Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) and SK Hynix (KS:000660) are poised to unveil investment plans totaling approximately 2,000 trillion won ($1.3 trillion) aimed at expanding the nation’s semiconductor and artificial intelligence infrastructure, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, the announcement is expected at a government-backed event on Monday, featuring President Lee Jae-myung, Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.
Korea Economic Daily indicates that Samsung intends to invest roughly 1,000 trillion won over the next decade, while SK Hynix is anticipated to unveil a commitment of a similar scale.
As per the report, the investment blueprint includes establishing a new cluster of semiconductor facilities in the Honam region, concentrating investments in data centers around the Chungcheong area, and carrying out physical AI-related projects in the Yeongnam region.
South Korea’s presidential office stated on Sunday that Samsung and SK Hynix will announce major investment plans this week as part of a government-led regional development initiative, though it did not disclose the investment amounts.
These planned expenditures come amid a global race among chipmakers to expand capacity to meet surging demand for AI system hardware.
Recently, SK Hynix surpassed Samsung to become South Korea’s most valuable publicly traded company, largely due to its leading position in producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI systems.
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