On the 19th, at the construction site of the general industrial complex for the SK hynix Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, dozens of ready-mix concrete trucks and dump trucks moved in a line, following hand signals from safety personnel across the field from land where greenhouses had been installed. Because the roads have not yet been fully laid out, the site office could only be found by driving along routes not shown on navigation systems.

● “Currently the largest construction site in Korea”

The SK hynix Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, which is being developed across the two villages of Dokseong-ri and Jukneung-ri in Wonsam-myeon, covers an area of 4,156,135㎡ (approximately 1.26 million pyeong). An official from SK ecoplant, the company in charge of construction, said, “As of now, this is the largest construction site in Korea,” adding, “It is large enough to build a typical new town.” Its size is similar to that of Sanbon New Town (about 4.2 million ㎡), one of the first-generation new towns, and it took about 10 minutes to circle the cluster by car.

The Yongin Semiconductor Cluster consists of: △ Site A (600,000 pyeong), which will be used by SK hynix △ Site B (140,000 pyeong), which will house more than 50 materials, parts, and equipment (MPE) companies △ Site C (30,000 pyeong), where about 1,900 households can move in △ Site D (370,000 pyeong) for public facilities △ Site E (120,000 pyeong), a district heating and resource circulation center.

Construction was under way for the first-phase fab (factory) among the four fabs to be built on Site A. The first fab is designed with six clean rooms, but currently only half, three clean rooms, are being built. A single Yongin fab is as large as six M15X fabs that SK hynix recently expanded in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. More than 20 large tower cranes were operating continuously, transporting construction materials. An SK ecoplant official said, “Typically, one crane is used to construct one apartment building,” adding, “This indicates just how large-scale this first fab project is.”

Once completed, the first fab will be a 150-meter-tall building, similar in height to a 50-story apartment building. SK hynix plans to conduct test operations in the first quarter of 2027 (January–March) and open the clean rooms of the first fab in May of the same year. Depending on semiconductor demand, SK hynix plans to build up to the fourth fab. At this site, SK hynix plans to produce not only HBM4E, the seventh-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM) expected to be launched around 2027, but also HBM5, HBM5E, and customized HBM products.

● Power secured up to second fab operations

As of the end of last month, about 75% of infrastructure work such as power supply, water supply, and ground consolidation for the semiconductor cluster had been completed. In the center of the construction site stands Korea Electric Power Corporation’s integrated substation building. This facility transmits electricity brought in from the Shin Anseong Substation located 6 km away from the semiconductor cluster. SK hynix has currently secured sufficient power to operate up to the second fab. An SK hynix official explained, “Of the total 5.8GW (gigawatts) of power, 2.8GW will be drawn from the Shin Anseong Substation.”

The supplied power will be laid using an underground method, in which a tunnel is bored 40 meters below ground and cables are embedded. An SK hynix official said, “Although this approach requires several times more cost and time, it was chosen to ensure smooth construction progress.” Cable installation is scheduled to be completed by September next year, at which point the first power supply will begin.

Water will be drawn from the Yeoju Weir on the Namhan River in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province. Construction is underway to lay approximately 37 km of pipeline. Once completed, the cluster will receive 265,000 tons of water per day, equivalent to 80% of the water volume used by Yongin, a city with a population of 1.1 million.

SK hynix initially announced that it would invest about KRW 120 trillion to develop the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster. However, reflecting SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s determination to secure leadership in global semiconductor technology, the investment scale has increased to about KRW 600 trillion. An SK hynix official said, “We aim to develop the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster not merely as an industrial complex, but as a core hub that enhances Korea’s semiconductor competitiveness and drives co-prosperity and innovation in the materials, parts, and equipment industry.”

Popular News