SK hynix has announced plans to invest KRW 100 trillion (about US$65 billion at the current exchange rate) in Cheongju, South Korea, to expand its NAND flash manufacturing and advanced packaging capacity to meet rising AI-driven memory demand. The announcement was made by President and CEO Kwak Noh-Jung during the National Briefing on the Strategy for Fostering Next-Generation Advanced Industries in the Chungcheong Region, held at Samsung Display’s Asan Campus.
The investment includes approximately KRW 80 trillion (~$52 billion) for the M17 NAND fabrication facility and KRW 20 trillion (~$13 billion) for the P&T7 advanced packaging facility and its related infrastructure. P&T7 is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, while construction of the M17 fab is scheduled to begin in 2027, with operations targeted to commence in the first half of 2029.
According to SK hynix, the accelerating adoption of AI services continues to drive demand for enterprise SSDs, NAND flash memory, HBM, and server DRAM. The company also expects emerging agentic and physical AI workloads to further increase demand for NAND-based storage.
The company said that expanding production capacity has become increasingly important as NAND demand continues to outpace supply. CEO Kwak said Cheongju was selected because the site already has the land, electrical infrastructure, and water resources needed to enable rapid fab construction. The location also enables manufacturing efficiencies by integrating with SK hynix’s existing operations in Cheongju.
Beyond semiconductor manufacturing, SK Group outlined broader AI infrastructure plans for South Korea. The group plans to phase in a total of 15 GW of AI data center capacity nationwide, beginning with an initial 5 GW. As part of that initiative, a 1 GW AI data center is planned for the Chungcheong region to support an ecosystem integrating semiconductor manufacturing with AI computing infrastructure.
SK hynix said the investments are intended to reinforce Cheongju as one of the company’s primary semiconductor manufacturing hubs and to strengthen South Korea’s position in memory technology and AI infrastructure. The company highlighted its existing presence in the region across NAND, HBM, and advanced packaging, positioning the new investments as the next phase of its long-term expansion strategy.
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