Semiconductor Component Firm Waldeks in Gumi to Invest KRW 260 Billion in Expanding Production Facilities

Land Acquisition This Year, Plant Construction Begins Next Year

On July 23, Gyeongbuk Province signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) worth KRW 260 billion with Waldeks Co., Ltd. and Gumi City at Gumi City Hall to expand a production base for semiconductor etching process materials and components. The signing ceremony was attended by over 20 people, including Geumhee Yang, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Gyeongbuk Province, JoungHo Kim, Mayor of Gumi, and JongSik Bae, CEO of Waldeks Co., Ltd.

Through this agreement, Waldeks plans to invest a total of KRW 260 billion from 2026 to 2030 in the Gumi National Industrial Complex 5, focusing on building semiconductor material production facilities and investing in new growth engines and next-generation R&D on approximately 82,500 square meters (about 25,000 pyeong) of idle land. The company will begin acquiring the land in the second half of 2026, commence construction in April 2027, operate the first plant in 2028, and complete its second-phase expansion by 2030.

Jongshik Bae, CEO of Waldecks (second from left), Joungho Kim, Gumi City Mayor (second from right), and Geumhee Yang, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gyeongbuk Province (left), signed a memorandum of understanding for investment.

Since its founding in 2000, Waldeks has grown into a leading company specializing in core semiconductor material components in Gumi, true to its corporate mission of “World + Extension.” The company manufactures silicon parts, quartz parts, and fine ceramic parts used in the wafer etching process—one of the key semiconductor front-end steps for engraving microcircuits. These components are essential consumables that have a direct impact on the yield of the semiconductor etching process and require continuous replacement.

Following its listing on KOSDAQ in 2008, Waldeks established a vertically integrated value chain from raw material supply to final processing by acquiring West Coast Quartz (WCQ), an American raw materials specialist, in 2009. This system allows the company to minimize raw material risks and maintain stable manufacturing capabilities, even amid global supply chain fluctuations. Supplying its products to major domestic and international semiconductor companies—such as Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Micron, Intel, and TSMC—Waldeks earns 67% of its revenue from overseas.

JongSik Bae, CEO of Waldeks Co., Ltd., commented, "We have decided to make another large-scale investment in Gumi, where we have grown together for the past 26 years since our founding. We aim to establish ourselves as a model company that completes our initial goal of material localization based on overwhelming technological competitiveness, expands the hiring of local talent and collaborative infrastructure, and revitalizes the regional economy."

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