Samsung Electronics has effectively finalized ‘Cheomdan 3 District’ in Gwangju Metropolitan City as the site for its new semiconductor manufacturing plant. It has already secured a 165,300㎡ (50,000 pyeong) plot and plans to expand toward nearby Jangseong in South Jeolla Province to establish a semiconductor industrial complex. By contrast, SK hynix is reviewing various candidate sites at home and abroad.

As of the 11th, based on Kyunghyang Shinmun reporting, Samsung Electronics sought roughly 496,000㎡ (150,000 pyeong) for the plant site. The Gwangju city government reviewed and proposed, alongside Cheomdan 3 District, sites in the Hampyeong Bitgreen Industrial Complex and the relocated ammunition depot area near Gwangju Airport.

However, both Samsung Electronics and the government wanted a site where infrastructure was already in place so construction could begin immediately, and it is said that last month they settled on Cheomdan 3 District. Samsung plans to first build a plant in Cheomdan 3 District and then expand the site toward Jangseong on that basis.

Cheomdan 3 District is a general industrial complex of about 3,620,000㎡ (1.1 million pyeong) being developed across Gwangju Buk-gu and Gwangsan-gu and Jangseong County in South Jeolla. As an industrial park within the Gwangju R&D Special Zone, it is under development with the goal of creating an AI-based science and technology startup complex and a researchindustry convergence complex. Plans are also under way to create an AI cluster and AI knowledge industry center and to establish an AI high school for gifted students.

The de facto selection of Cheomdan 3 District as the plant site appears to reflect locational advantages as well. Adjacent Jangseong consists of plains, making it easier to expand the industrial complex in the future.

In the Honam region, the expectation is that Samsung will build a semiconductor packaging (back-end) plant in Gwangju. Back-end processing refers to assembling final products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) after testing, and compared with front-end processes that etch circuits on wafers, it places relatively lower demands on power and water. Cheomdan 3 District has a large substation, allowing power supply to begin immediately.

Amkor Technology Korea, a semiconductor back-end company, is also currently located in the Cheomdan district. As back-end orders from Taiwan-based TSMC have increased, Amkor has decided to expand its Gwangju plant and invest about 1 trillion won. Accordingly, the Gwangju city government recently confirmed it would provide Amkor with a 30% foreign investment subsidy.

The region is buoyed by news of large-scale investment and development. An Seon-yeong, head of policy planning at the Korea Photonics Convergence Industry Promotion Association, said, “A semiconductor manufacturing plant is a representative anchor industry in which countless materials, parts, and equipment companies, research institutes, and partner firms move together,” and added, “If attracting the plant becomes a reality, it is expected to create quality jobs and dramatically advance the industrial ecosystem of the region.”

However, whether SK hynix, mentioned alongside Samsung Electronics as a company that could build a semiconductor plant in the Honam area, will invest remains uncertain. SK hynix is reportedly looking at locations outside Korea as well, including Japan and the United States.

A local political source said, “The ‘key’ to the new Honam semiconductor plant project lies with SK hynix,” and added, “I understand that, out of concern over talent outflows, Samsung Electronics wants SK hynix to build a semiconductor plant in Honam as well.”