Lee Jae-yong Visits Cheonan for First Time in 3 Years, Inspects HBM Production Line - Seoul Economic Daily

South Korean Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's first visit to Cheonan in three years to inspect HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) production lines demonstrates the South Korean government's strong ... Read original →

Lee Jae-yong’s visit to Cheonan signals a strategic pivot, not mere optics. Technologically, surging HBM demand intensifies reliance on TSV and hybrid bonding tools, forcing Samsung to recalibrate procurement between domestic vendors like SEMES and foreign suppliers. Regulatory pressure from the U.S.-Korea chip alliance compels accelerated de-Americanization of production lines, likely inflating capex by 15–20% short-term. Competitively, with SK hynix already shipping HBM3E and TSMC locking in NVIDIA via CoWoS, Samsung is racing to reclaim AI memory leadership. Over the next 18 months, Seoul may roll out targeted subsidies for HBM4 R&D—but persistent dependencies on Japanese and U.S.-controlled materials like photoresists and sputtering targets will cap supply chain resilience amid escalating geopolitical fragmentation.