South Korea to create world’s largest chip production center
Seoul, Mar 15 (EFE).- South Korea will create the world’s largest semiconductor production center on the outskirts of Seoul with investments of 300 trillion won ($230 billion) as part of a plan to enhance the country’s competitiveness, the Ministry of Industry announced Wednesday.
The plan includes building a new complex by 2042, which will have five advanced chip fabrication facilities and some 150 materials, parts and fabless companies in a location already key to the local industry in Seoul Capital Area.
The chosen municipality is Yongin, Gyeonggi province, 40 kilometers south of Seoul, where Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the first and second largest global manufacturers of memory chips, already operate several semiconductor plants and where other companies linked to the sector are also established.
The government expects the resut to become the world’s largest chip production center by also being connected to existing chip production and development centers in the neighboring towns of Giheung, Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, Icheon and Pangyo.
The mega center will integrate the entire semiconductor value chain, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry is also seeking to approve a plan to invest some 3.2 trillion won in the development of next-generation semiconductor technologies for artificial intelligence, vehicles and energy production.
This is part of a broader government strategy to promote six key industries (biosanitary, chips, new mobility, robotics, secondary batteries and displays) across 14 different regions in the country. EFE
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