Odaily Planet Daily report: Analyst Jukan of Citrini posted on X that, according to sources, SK Hynix is advancing plans to invest trillions of won in building a memory chip wafer fab in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. If realized, this would mark the first large-scale investment by a South Korean semiconductor company to establish a local manufacturing base in Japan. As investment in Japan progresses, the U.S. is expected to increase pressure on South Korean companies to expand their memory chip production capacity in the U.S., further complicating their future investment allocation decisions.
According to a report by the Hankyoreh on the 20th, SK hynix is seeking to build a memory chip wafer fab in Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Honshu, Japan. A business insider said, “As far as I know, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently visited the area personally.” Miyagi Prefecture is one of three regions in Japan, alongside Kyushu and Hokkaido, designated by the government as key centers for semiconductor industry development.
The project is reportedly expected to involve investments of several trillion Korean won. In comparison to the hundreds of trillions of Korean won invested in South Korea’s semiconductor clusters in Yongin and Gwangju, the Japanese facility will be a relatively smaller production base. The Miyagi wafer plant will serve as a new overseas manufacturing site, while SK hynix will continue advancing its domestic investments in the Yongin and Gwangju semiconductor clusters as originally planned. This initiative appears aimed at proactively expanding capacity amid ongoing global shortages of memory chips.
If the plan proceeds, SK hynix will become the third foreign semiconductor company to operate semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Japan, following U.S.-based Micron and Taiwan-based TSMC. Samsung Electronics currently operates only an advanced semiconductor packaging research center in Yokohama.
However, this investment carries risks. The United States has been pressuring the South Korean government and South Korean companies to invest in and build memory chip wafer fabs within the U.S. If SK hynix proceeds with its investment in Japan, Washington may further demand that it expand its domestic production capacity in the U.S. Additionally, SK hynix must navigate political uncertainty in South Korea and societal sensitivities surrounding investments in Japan in strategic industries such as semiconductors.