SK Hynix is considering a joint memory semiconductor production facility in Japan as artificial-intelligence growth drives stronger demand for memory chips. The company has not selected a partner or site and is surveying locations nationwide, with sufficient power and water supplies among the requirements. The review is also intended to deepen ties with Japanese customers and suppliers. SK Hynix plans to invest 54 trillion won, about $39 billion, to expand chip production facilities in South Korea, while it is building an advanced memory packaging plant in West Lafayette, Indiana. AI data-center investment is increasing demand for both high-bandwidth memory (high-speed memory for AI processors) and NAND flash (nonvolatile data-storage memory). Japan is home to key suppliers including Tokyo Electron and customers such as Sony Group and Nintendo, while SK Hynix indirectly owns a stake in Japanese NAND maker Kioxia Holdings. Rival Micron already operates a semiconductor plant in Hiroshima, and Japan has offered substantial subsidies to overseas chipmakers including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. At a Korea-Japan Chamber of Commerce meeting in Sendai, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won also called for closer economic cooperation between South Korea and Japan, citing shrinking labor forces in both countries and urging the formation of an economic bloc.