Fearless "AI Computer Power Surplus" Panic SK Hynix plans to invest 1 trillion Korean won to build NAND and advanced packaging factories.

SK Hynix announced on Thursday that it plans to invest 80 trillion Korean won (approximately 514.6 billion US dollars) in building a new NAND flash memory wafer plant in Cheongju, South Chungcheong Province, in response to the chip shortage caused by the AI boom. The factory, named M17, is scheduled to start operating in 2029. SK Hynix also plans to invest an additional 20 trillion Korean won in building a chip packaging plant in Cheongju by the end of 2027. SK Hynix CEO Kim Ro-tae announced the plans at an event, stating, "We will invest 80 trillion won in Cheongju to build the new NAND wafer plant M17, and invest 20 trillion won to build the advanced packaging plant P&T7. Along with a 1GW AI data center, our total investment in the Chungcheong region will reach 170 trillion Korean won." The South Korean Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources announced on Thursday that it will inject 392 trillion Korean won (approximately 252.5 billion US dollars) of industrial investment into the central Chungcheong region. In this total investment, various Samsung subsidiaries will inject about 140 trillion won for the construction of HBM wafer plants, advanced packaging, OLED production, and battery lines; SK Hynix plans to invest about 100 trillion won to build NAND and advanced packaging plants; the biopharmaceutical company Celltrion plans to invest about 2 trillion won in biopharmaceutical facilities. In addition, approximately 150 trillion Korean won will flow into AI data centers. An official from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources stated, "The Chungcheong region has long been a transport hub where population, technology, and industry converge. The development of advanced industries in the Chungcheong region will drive the overall industrial development of South Korea." Meanwhile, the South Korean stock market experienced a sharp decline. On Thursday, the KOSPI index fell nearly 7%, with heavyweight stocks Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both dropping over 7%. Prior to this, there were reports that Meta Platform (META.US) plans to sell computing power, leading to investor doubts about AI computing power surplus, resulting in the selling off of chip manufacturers' stocks, with Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) and SanDisk (SNDK.US) both experiencing a 10% drop.