The United States has asked South Korea’s government and its memory makers to invest in chip production facilities on American soil, according to a report from The Chosun Daily.
The request, delivered during Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan’s recent visit to Washington, presses Samsung and SK hynix to commit to new US memory fabs. The US reportedly expressed frustration that Korean firms have not yet announced fresh US investments, and the demand is separate from the $350B investment agreement signed by the two countries last year.
The push comes weeks after Seoul unveiled its KRW 800T Honam Semiconductor Cluster project, a planned manufacturing hub in southwestern Korea. The Korea Times reported the government is drafting a super budget of more than $578B tied to the chip boom.
President Lee Jae Myung is meeting this week with Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai’s Chung Euisun to push progress on the Honam cluster and related mega projects, according to The Korea Herald.
Samsung is already investing over $37B in a foundry in Taylor, Texas, and SK hynix is building an advanced packaging facility in Indiana. The new pressure could force both companies to split capital between Korean mega projects and additional US plants at a time of record memory demand.
