The southwestern Honam region, anchored by Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, is moving to the center of South Korea’s industrial strategy after Samsung Electronics and SK Group unveiled a combined investment plan of approximately 4,755 trillion KRW (roughly $3.1 trillion) in semiconductors and artificial intelligence. The announcement, made at the “Three Mega Projects for a Great Leap Forward” national briefing, positions Honam as the country’s second major chip production base after the greater Seoul metropolitan area, backed by 800 trillion KRW earmarked specifically for new fabrication facilities—the largest private industrial investment in Korean history.
Following the announcement, Samsung and SK have begun outlining concrete follow-up plans for the region, with both companies citing the need to secure a successor cluster as their existing facilities in Pyeongtaek, Yongin, and Cheongju approach capacity.
Key Commitments:
- Samsung’s Gwangju Fab Investment: Samsung Electronics will invest 425 trillion KRW in the Honam region, including 400 trillion KRW dedicated to building two new memory semiconductor fabs in Gwangju. Vice Chairman Young-Hyun Jeon described the move as a response to the accelerated completion timeline of the company’s metropolitan-area lines, which has made it necessary to designate a successor cluster to Yongin sooner than originally planned.
- Power and Water Infrastructure: Samsung has called on the government to expand nuclear power capacity, advance power purchase agreements (PPAs), and ensure planned LNG combined heat and power generation, citing the need for stable baseload power to offset the intermittency of renewable sources in the region.
- AI Data Center in Haenam: Samsung SDS will invest 17 trillion KRW to build a 210 MW-class national AI data center in Haenam Solaseado, with construction beginning in the second half of 2026 and operations targeted for 2028.
- Additional Samsung Group Investment: Samsung Electronics will invest a further 4 trillion KRW in a smart home appliance innovation hub in Gwangju and a logistics automation pilot center in Gochang, while Samsung C&T will commit 4 trillion KRW to solar power, nuclear-based hydrogen production, and a green hydrogen R&D demonstration complex across the region.
- SK Group’s Semiconductor Belt: SK Group will invest 2,100 trillion KRW overall, including 1,100 trillion KRW to build a semiconductor production belt linking Yongin, Cheongju, and a new 400 trillion KRW cluster in Honam.
- SK’s AI Data Center Buildout: SK Telecom will lead a 1,000 trillion KRW nationwide AI data center program targeting 15 GW of capacity, with an initial 5 GW phase—deployed in 0.5–1 GW units—planned for regions including Honam, Ulsan, and Gangwon, followed by a second phase adding a further 10 GW.
The national plan is expected to reshape Honam’s economic profile substantially, forming part of a broader semiconductor belt connecting the Seoul metropolitan area, Chungcheong, Honam, and Yeongnam regions. Government officials have also moved to accelerate the Yongin cluster’s completion timeline by up to 12 years through expanded infrastructure support and streamlined permitting, underscoring the urgency behind the southwestern expansion.
Honam’s transformation into a semiconductor and AI hub is framed by both companies and the government as a foundation for strengthening Korea’s global competitiveness in AI memory and advanced packaging, while anchoring long-term industrial growth in a region historically outside the country’s traditional manufacturing core.