SK Hynix Plans to Invest Trillions of KRW in a Memory Chip Fab in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Odaily News, Citrini analyst jukan stated on X platform that, according to informed sources, SK Hynix is advancing plans to invest trillions of KRW to build a memory chip wafer fab in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan. If realized, this would mark the first large-scale investment by a Korean semiconductor company establishing a local manufacturing base in Japan. As investment in Japan progresses, the United States is also expected to intensify pressure on Korean companies to expand memory chip production capacity in the U.S., further complicating future investment allocation decisions.

According to reports from South Korea's Hankyoreh on the 20th, SK hynix is seeking to build a memory chip wafer fab in Miyagi Prefecture, located in northeastern Honshu, Japan. A business insider said, "As far as I understand, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently visited the region in person." Miyagi Prefecture, along with Kyushu and Hokkaido, is one of three regions that the Japanese government plans to develop into major semiconductor industry hubs.

It is reported that the project's investment scale is expected to reach trillions of KRW. Compared with the hundreds of trillions of KRW invested in domestic semiconductor clusters in Yongin and the Honam region of Korea, the Japan plant will be a relatively smaller-scale production base. The Miyagi fab will serve as an additional overseas manufacturing site, while SK hynix will continue its planned domestic investments in the Yongin and Honam semiconductor clusters as originally scheduled. The plan appears aimed at proactively expanding production capacity amid the ongoing global memory chip shortage.

If realized, SK hynix would become the third foreign semiconductor company to operate semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Japan, following U.S.-based Micron and Taiwan's TSMC. Samsung Electronics currently operates only an advanced semiconductor packaging research center in Yokohama.

However, the investment also carries risks. The United States has been pressuring the Korean government and Korean companies to invest in memory chip wafer fabs on U.S. soil. If SK hynix moves forward with investment in Japan, Washington may further demand that it expand local production capacity in the U.S. Additionally, SK hynix must navigate domestic political uncertainties in Korea, as well as the social sensitivity surrounding investment in Japan for strategic industries such as semiconductors.