SK hynix Inc., South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker, on Thursday unveiled a 1.2 trillion-won (US$1.05 billion) support plan for subcontracting firms and their R&D projects as it won approval for its plan to build a semiconductor cluster in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Under the project, valued at 120 trillion won, SK hynix will build four semiconductor fabrication plants in Yongin, just south of Seoul.

The project is expected to create some 170,000 jobs. More than 50 subcontractors also plan to move into the cluster, which can energize the regional economy as a whole.

SK hynix said among other measures, some 800 billion won will be spent to support its subcontractors and their research and development for 10 years starting in 2022, when the project gets under way in earnest.

The groundbreaking of the semiconductor cluster is expected to start in the third quarter of 2021, with the completion expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.

When the project is completed, Yongin will serve as a base for DRAM and next-generation memory chips for SK hynix, while Icheon, 80 kilometers south of Seoul, will serve as an R&D and DRAM hub, and Cheongju, 137 km from the capital, will be a NAND flash chip center for the chipmaker.

By: DocMemory
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