SK chief vows to speed up construction of new chip cluster in southwest

SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said Friday his business group will make efforts to build a new semiconductor cluster in the southwestern part of the country as quickly as possible to meet growing global demand. Chey made the remarks during a visit to Gwangju Air Base in the southwestern Jeonnam-Gwangju region, where SK hynix Inc. has proposed building a new chip cluster. "Once the conditions are met, we plan to build (the new cluster) as quickly as possible," Chey said. "Demand for chips is growing rapidly, and the current situation requires us to accelerate the pace of supply to keep up with demand," he added. The chairman said the group still needs to determine when construction will begin but stressed that it intends to break ground as soon as possible. Chey noted that demand for chips is expected to grow significantly, adding that the proposed cluster will be around two-thirds the size of the one currently under construction in Yongin, just south of Seoul. It marked Chey's first visit to the region since the conglomerate unveiled its building plan in June. Earlier in the year, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled long-term investment projects in the region, including plans to build two new memory chip fabrication plants each. In July, Gwangju Air Base was selected as the site for the project, with the government aiming to begin scale production in 2030. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won speaks to reporters during a visit to Gwangju Air Base in the southwestern Jeonnam-Gwangju region on Oct. 9, 2026, (Yonhap) colin@yna.co.kr(END)