SK海力士据报拟在日本宫城县建设存储芯片晶圆厂

[Exclusive] SK hynix to Build Semiconductor Fab in Japan

SK hynix is moving forward with plans to invest tens of trillions of won to build a memory semiconductor fabrication plant (fab) in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan, according to sources familiar with the matter. If realized, it would mark the first large-scale investment by a South Korean semiconductor company to establish a local manufacturing base in Japan. However, as the Japan investment takes shape, U.S. pressure on Korean companies to expand memory production in the United States is also expected to intensify, further complicating their decisions over where to allocate future investment.

According to Hankyoreh’s reporting on the 20th, SK hynix is pursuing the construction of a memory semiconductor fab in Miyagi Prefecture, located in the Tohoku region of Honshu, Japan’s main island. A business community source said, “I understand that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently visited the area in person.” Miyagi is one of three regions, alongside Kyushu and Hokkaido, that the Japanese government is seeking to develop into major semiconductor industry hubs.

The investment is reportedly expected to amount to tens of trillions of won. Compared with the hundreds of trillions of won being invested in domestic semiconductor clusters in Yongin and the Honam region, the Japanese facility would represent a relatively smaller-scale production base. The Miyagi fab would be an additional overseas manufacturing site, while SK hynix proceeds with its planned domestic investments in the Yongin and Honam semiconductor clusters as originally intended. The move appears aimed at proactively expanding production capacity amid an ongoing global memory supply shortage.

If the plan materializes, SK hynix would become the third foreign semiconductor company, after U.S.-based Micron and Taiwan’s TSMC, to operate a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Japan. Samsung Electronics currently only operates an advanced semiconductor packaging research center in Yokohama.

However, the investment also carries risks. The United States has been pressuring the Korean government and Korean companies to invest in memory fabs on U.S. soil, and if SK hynix proceeds with its Japanese investment, Washington could intensify its demands for additional local production capacity in the United States. The company would also have to navigate domestic political uncertainty and public sensitivities in South Korea surrounding investment in Japan in a strategically important industry such as semiconductors.