Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung met with Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Thursday to discuss plans for regional semiconductor investments, including the possible development of a chip cluster in the southwestern Honam region. During the meeting, which lasted more than an hour at Cheong Wa Dae, the two exchanged opinions on Samsung Electronics Co.'s potential large-scale investment projects in provincial areas that are expected to be unveiled soon, according to sources.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the talks are widely viewed as part of the ongoing preparations for the government's upcoming conference on balanced regional development, tentatively scheduled for next Monday. The president had earlier met with the head of SK hynix to exchange views on regional investments. Earlier, Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, highlighted the constraints faced by the greater Seoul area in terms of land, electricity, and water resources, suggesting the government's interest in establishing an additional semiconductor cluster outside the capital region.
Currently, a semiconductor cluster is under construction in Yongin, just south of Seoul, expected to become a key production hub for advanced semiconductor products by Samsung and SK hynix. The Lee administration has emphasized balanced regional development as a key economic policy, aiming to foster new growth engines across eight regions under its "five poles and three special zones" initiative. As part of these efforts, the government is pursuing the creation of a southern semiconductor belt.
Earlier this week, Lee Jae-yong visited Samsung's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production facilities and underscored efforts to enhance the company's technological leadership in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market. This visit follows Samsung's milestone of surpassing US$1 billion in cumulative sales of its sixth-generation HBM chips, known as HBM4, just four months after initiating mass production and shipments in February.
Industry observers anticipate that Samsung and SK hynix will invest hundreds of trillions of won in the Honam and Chungcheong regions to establish a comprehensive semiconductor ecosystem, along with renewable energy infrastructure to support AI industries. Expansion of existing semiconductor production facilities in the Chungcheong Province is also under discussion. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics maintained its position as the world's largest supplier of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips in the first quarter, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research.