President Lee Jae Myung held a meeting with Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong to talk about strategies for regional semiconductor investments, including the potential creation of a chip cluster in the southwestern Honam area.
The gathering at Cheong Wa Dae is intended to address strategies for the suggested Honam semiconductor cluster, along with investment initiatives from leading chip manufacturers — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Inc., according to reports.
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The discussions are largely seen as part of the ongoing preparations for the government's forthcoming conference on equitable regional development, tentatively set for next week. The president previously met with the leader of SK hynix to discuss perspectives on regional investments.
During the most recent gathering, Samsung Electronics could unveil a significant regional investment strategy.
Earlier, Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, mentioned that the greater Seoul area is experiencing increasing limitations on land, electricity, and water resources, indicating that the government may consider creating another semiconductor cluster beyond the capital region. A semiconductor complex is being built in Yongin, located just south of Seoul, and is anticipated to act as a vital production center for cutting-edge semiconductor goods produced by the two chip manufacturers.
The Lee administration has emphasized balanced regional development as a central economic policy, seeking to cultivate new growth drivers in eight regions through its "five poles and three special zones" initiative.
In line with these initiatives, the government is working towards establishing a southern semiconductor corridor.
Earlier this week, Lee Jae-yong toured Samsung's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturing sites and highlighted initiatives to enhance the company’s technological dominance in the swiftly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor sector. The visit occurred as Samsung's total sales of sixth-generation HBM chips, referred to as HBM4, exceeded $1 billion.
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The achievement occurred only four months after the company became the first globally to initiate mass production and delivery of HBM4 chips in February. Industry analysts anticipate Samsung and SK hynix will allocate hundreds of trillions of won in the Honam and Chungcheong areas to create a complete semiconductor ecosystem and renewable energy facilities to aid AI sectors.
Discussions are also underway regarding the expansion of current semiconductor manufacturing sites in Chungcheong Province.
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Samsung Electronics, on the other hand, kept its status as the leading supplier of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips globally in the first quarter, as reported by market research company Counterpoint Research.