South Korea rolls out $1.2T chip, AI investment plan led by Samsung and SK hynix - Türkiye Today

South Korea unveiled a nearly $1.2 trillion public-private investment plan to expand semiconductor manufacturing and AI infrastructure, led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The initiative, the lar... Read original →

South Korea’s $1.2 trillion semiconductor-AI initiative is a geopolitical countermove to U.S. CHIPS Act pressures and bilateral trade renegotiations. Technically, Samsung and SK hynix’s focus on HBM and 3nm EUV fabs will surge demand for ASML tools and advanced packaging substrates, accelerating convergence of memory and compute in AI data centers. Regulatory fast-tracking cuts construction lead times but risks overconcentration in the southwest, straining water and power infrastructure and inflating long-term OPEX. Facing TSMC’s lead in CoWoS and HBM3E, Korean giants are betting scale over node leadership; meanwhile, Micron’s expanded Hiroshima investment signals a deliberate fragmentation of East Asia’s memory ecosystem. Within 18 months, HBM capacity may face structural oversupply, yet Korea’s vertical integration could let it dictate AI memory standards—redefining global supply chain leverage.