SK Hynix has approved a fresh 54.3 trillion won (roughly $38 billion) investment through 2031 to build two next-generation semiconductor fabs in South Korea, extending an already-record capex run aimed at high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators.
Yongin Y2: The DRAM And HBM Anchor
Of the new budget, 35.2 trillion won is earmarked for the Y2 fab at Yongin, the second of four planned plants inside the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster. Sprawling across 341,000 pyeong (about 1.13 million square meters), Y2 will manufacture advanced DRAM designed for high-bandwidth memory and next-generation memory needed for AI workloads. Groundbreaking is scheduled for July 2027, with the first cleanroom coming online in June 2029 and staggered investments running to October 2031. Construction of the cluster's first plant, Y1, remains on track for completion in February 2027.
Cheongju M17: NAND Capacity For The Storage Wave
The remaining 19.1 trillion won will fund the M17 fab at Cheongju, a 206,000 pyeong (680,000 square meter) facility focused on NAND flash memory. SK Hynix said Cheongju was chosen for the speed with which fab construction can be completed there. Groundbreaking is set for February 2027 with the first cleanroom opening in December 2028.
Pulled Forward By AI Demand
The commitments accelerate SK Hynix's longer-term Yongin plan, which the company has already moved forward by more than a decade, targeting completion of all four cluster fabs by 2033 instead of 2045. The company is racing to keep up with AI-driven memory demand that also underpins its recent $500B AI factory pact with NVIDIA, a possible operating role at Intel's Ohio fab, and its recently unveiled 16-layer HBM4 and 375-layer wafer-bonded NAND.
The moves also frame a wider Korean industrial-policy backdrop, arriving just days after Seoul rolled out a $3.5B chip fund for materials and fabless firms.
Reporting based on coverage from BisInfotech and Korean industry sources.