The government has now designated about 2.5 million pyeong at the Gwangju Military Airport site as the candidate location for the Honam Advanced Semiconductor National Industrial Complex and is reviewing further expansion.
South Korea has designated about 2.5 million pyeong at the Gwangju Military Airport site as the candidate location for the Honam Advanced Semiconductor National Industrial Complex, formalizing a key step in the southwest semiconductor initiative tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The site size reflects the production facility needs of the two companies, while the government said it will review additional expansion to build a broader semiconductor ecosystem that includes partner companies, research institutions, and residential, educational, cultural, and transport functions under a mixed-use "corporate advanced city" model. The move follows recent executive- and staff-level site inspections by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics as officials and companies discuss land availability, infrastructure, airport relocation, permitting and phased investment plans. Earlier government plans called for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to invest a combined 800 trillion won to build four advanced semiconductor fabs at the site, with first mass production targeted for 2030, though company-by-company investment size, groundbreaking schedules and fab allocation remain subject to further talks. The update came on the same day SK Hynix reported record second-quarter results, driven by stronger sales of HBM, AI server DRAM and enterprise solid-state drives amid sustained AI infrastructure demand.