South Korea's government today unveiled details of its ambitious semiconductor cluster plan, which involves 622 trillion won ($470bn) of investment from major semiconductor firms by 2047.
Intial details of the plan first emerged in March 2023, disclosed by the country's trade and industry ministry (Motie).
The cluster will be located in the Gyeonggi province, with a total area of 21mn m² and will boast a production capacity of 7.7mn wafers/month by 2030, according to a 15 January joint announcement by Motie and the country's ministry of science and ICT. Major semiconductor firms Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are backing the plan as they seek to invest a total of W622 trillion in semiconductor manufacturing plants, or fabs, by 2047.
Around W500 trillion of investment will come from Samsung, which includes W360 trillion of investment in fabs in Yongin city's Namsa town. SK Hynix also plans to invest about W122 trillion in fabs in the same region.
The cluster is expected to create 3mn jobs over the next 20 years, South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol said. He also vowed to extend investment tax credits for the industry that Yoon's administration introduced last year, ahead of the country's upcoming legislative election on 10 April.
South Korea's semiconductor supply chain independence rate is estimated at 30pc, according to the ministries' joint statement. The country aims to be more self-sufficient and raise the rate to 50pc by 2030. It also occupies about 3pc of the global chips market, with the country aiming to capture 10pc of it by 2030.
South Korea's semiconductor earnings rose by 22pc on the year to over $10bn in December 2023 — its highest monthly earnings in the year — after ending a 15-month downtrend in November owing to a rise in memory chip prices.
"The rebounding IT industry and memory chip prices boosted the semiconductor industry," said Motie minister Ahn Duk-geun this month, adding that they anticipate an export momentum build-up to happen this year with the industry to spearhead the country's export growth. "We will make efforts to see outbound shipments of semiconductors, the country's No. 1 export, reach $120 billion this year," said Ahn.
