The area around the Cheongju Technopolis Industrial Complex in Oebok-dong, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, is being transformed into a key strategic hub in the global artificial intelligence (AI) memory market. On the 22nd, SK hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony for P&T7, its next-generation back-end production base, attended by more than 180 participants, including Mass Production Head Lee Byung-ki, related personnel, and employees of SK ecoplant, the construction manager.

The newly built P&T7 is a dedicated advanced packaging plant, an essential gateway for manufacturing high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The total site area is approximately 230,000 square meters, and a cleanroom of about 150,000 square meters will be established, including a wafer test (WT) line for semiconductor quality verification and a wafer level packaging (WLP) process line for finished products. The company aims to complete each process sequentially between October 2027 and February 2028.

Within the semiconductor industry, the status of back-end processes has been elevated from a supplementary quality verification step to a core factor that determines product performance. This is because microfabrication technologies such as wafer level packaging (WLP) govern the efficiency of AI semiconductors. Accordingly, P&T7 is expected to serve as a strategic production base that responds to surging global demand and materializes advanced technological capabilities.

At the site, Mass Production Head Lee Byung-ki stressed that P&T7 is a pivotal facility that completes the company’s AI memory manufacturing capabilities. He stated that the company will pursue intelligent manufacturing so that products produced at this base can establish themselves as global standards, while simultaneously strengthening industrial competitiveness and achieving mutual growth with the local community through close communication.

Balanced regional growth was also a major consideration in the site selection process. SK hynix currently operates four plants in Cheongju, from M11 to M15X, and the new P&T7 will be the fifth production base in the region. The company plans to foster Cheongju as a hub for next-generation memory production by ensuring organic linkages with nearby facilities.

The economic ripple effects are also expected to be substantial. A large construction workforce will be mobilized during the building phase, revitalizing local businesses, and after completion, about 3,000 operating personnel will be stationed at the site. Additional positive chain effects are anticipated, including expansion of infrastructure driven by industrial complex activation and improvements in residential conditions.

In addition, programs to support technology development and management for local partner companies will be significantly strengthened. The company intends to establish a virtuous cycle in which the stronger the local supply chain becomes, the more competitive the finished products are. SK hynix plans to continue reviewing business models that can contribute to balanced national development through diversification of regional bases in the future.

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