Chey Tae-won: "Japan Has Excellent Conditions for Semiconductor Sites... AI Factory Also Planned"

Plans for Overseas Expansion Revealed in Nikkei Interview

"Japan Has a Complete Semiconductor Ecosystem, Including Materials, Equipment, and Power Supply"

AI Factory to Operate in Japan in Partnership with Nvidia

Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, named Japan as a leading candidate site for SK hynix’s next semiconductor plant. He also announced plans to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) factory in Japan, in collaboration with Nvidia, with a target as early as 2028.

According to the Nikkei on June 11, Chairman Chey stated in an interview the previous day that SK plans to operate an AI factory in Japan that will process large-scale data by combining SK’s memory semiconductors and Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs).

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won attended the Nikkei Forum 'Korea-Japan Special Session' held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan on the 9th. Yonhap News

Chairman Chey explained that, in terms of scale, the AI factory in Japan would be a gigawatt (GW)-level data center equivalent to the electricity consumption of a major city. He added that they are currently searching for candidate sites that can provide ample land and power. The specific amount of investment was not disclosed.

He went on to point out that many industries are currently experiencing a semiconductor shortage, emphasizing the need to further expand production capacity. “If we increase production capacity, we are also considering building semiconductor plants abroad,” he said, stressing, “Japan is an excellent candidate.”

He particularly noted that Japan possesses a complete ecosystem required for semiconductor manufacturing, including equipment, materials, and power supply. However, he added, “It is a difficult issue to decide when and where to build in Japan.”

Regarding the Yongin cluster being promoted by SK hynix, he mentioned, “We will accelerate its completion by several years.”

He also outlined the investment direction for the semiconductor business. Chairman Chey stated, “Currently, demand for semiconductors is very strong, so most of our resources are being put into building semiconductor plants. We also need to ‘AI-enable’ semiconductor factories and will expand the hiring of engineers.”

Regarding the distribution of excess profits, he said, “If profits increase, we must also increase our contributions to society, and this will continue not only in Korea but also in Japan.”

He also mentioned the possibility of expanding cooperation with Japanese companies. Speaking about Kioxia, the Japanese NAND flash company in which SK is a key shareholder and strategic partner, Chairman Chey said, “Although we are competitors and there are limits to collaboration, I want to pursue various forms of cooperation in talent, research and development, and the semiconductor ecosystem.”

He added that SK is ready to cooperate at any time with Rapidus, which is currently being fostered by the Japanese government to revitalize the semiconductor industry, if necessary.

He emphasized that SK is continuously working with Japanese materials and equipment companies such as Tokyo Electron, stating, “Connecting the Korea-Japan semiconductor ecosystem goes beyond simple business alliances and plays a major role in the economic security of both countries.”

He further noted that SK is actively engaged in AI investment activities in the United States, with Japanese partner companies also participating, and added, “We have begun discussions with Japanese companies to generate synergy between Korea and Japan in new businesses utilizing AI.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.