South Korea’s SK Hynix is reportedly considering a memory semiconductor manufacturing facility in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture, with the investment said to run into tens of trillions of won. <\/p>\n
Local newspaper The Hankyoreh reported that the project, pending confirmation, would represent the first major production facility set up in Japan by a South Korean chipmaker. <\/p>\n
Miyagi, located in the Tohoku region of Honshu, is among three areas \u2013 the others being Kyushu and Hokkaido \u2013 that Japanese authorities are positioning as semiconductor hubs. <\/p>\n
An industry source, cited anonymously, said SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won had made a recent visit to the region. <\/p>\n
According to the translated version of the report, the proposed Miyagi facility would be more modest in size than SK Hynix’s Yongin-Honam cluster in South Korea, where the company is said to be considering further investment on top of what was originally planned. <\/p>\n
The Japan site is positioned as a separate overseas production base, distinct from the Yongin-Honam development. <\/p>\n
The report framed the move as an early step to build up production capacity, taken against the backdrop of a persistent global shortage of memory chips. <\/p>\n
Were the project to go ahead, SK Hynix would become the third overseas firm running a chip manufacturing plant on Japanese soil, joining US-based Micron and Taiwan’s TSMC. <\/p>\n
The report further suggested that a Japan-based investment by SK Hynix could add to existing pressure from Washington on Seoul’s government and its chipmakers to build up memory chip manufacturing capacity on US soil. <\/p>\n