Chipmaker joins major banks and state-run insurer to ease funding pressures, plans W870b testing facility at Yongin cluster
SK hynix has launched a 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) financing program with major commercial banks and a state-run trade insurer to help domestic semiconductor suppliers secure affordable funding and strengthen Korea's chip supply chain, the company said Monday.
SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, representatives from the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, four major banks — Hana, KB Kookmin, Shinhan and Woori — and semiconductor suppliers attended a signing ceremony at the Yongin semiconductor cluster in Gyeonggi Province. The event also marked the issuance of the program's first guarantee.
The initiative aims to ease financing pressures on small and midsized suppliers of semiconductor materials, parts and equipment, which face high borrowing costs and uncertainty in the global economy.
Under the agreement, SK hynix and the participating banks will contribute 100 billion won. The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation will provide guarantees worth up to 20 times that amount, supporting as much as 2 trillion won in financing.
The guarantees will allow eligible suppliers to obtain larger loans at preferential interest rates while paying lower guarantee fees, helping them fund operations, technology development and capacity expansion.
The Industry Ministry described the initiative as the largest trade financing agreement of its kind involving a single company.
"Building a robust ecosystem of materials, parts and equipment suppliers is essential to securing Korea's global competitiveness in the semiconductor industry and further strengthening its standing," Kwak said.
"Through the financing initiative and the one-stop technology validation environment provided by the Trinity Fab, we will work closely with our partners to further solidify our technological leadership in the global market."
Before the signing ceremony, participants toured the construction site of SK hynix's first fabrication plant at the Yongin semiconductor cluster and the planned Trinity Fab, an 870 billion won joint project between the company and the government.
The Trinity Fab will serve as a testing facility where domestic chip suppliers can validate materials, components and equipment under actual semiconductor manufacturing conditions.
According to SK hynix, the facility is designed to address a longstanding obstacle for smaller suppliers: limited access to production-scale testing environments needed to verify new technologies before commercialization.
By combining financial support with testing infrastructure, SK hynix aims to help domestic suppliers accelerate product development, improve reliability and strengthen their ability to compete in the global semiconductor market.
During the site visit, Industry Minister Kim emphasized the need to accelerate the expansion of domestic semiconductor production capacity to help address the global memory chip shortage, while stressing that construction safety must remain the top priority.
"The government will actively support R&D initiatives, a new semiconductor fund and workforce training programs to build a cooperative ecosystem that allows small and midsized companies to share in the benefits of the semiconductor industry's growth," Kim said.
At a follow-up meeting, supplier representatives proposed measures to stabilize semiconductor supply chains, strengthen domestic technological capabilities and reduce dependence on overseas suppliers.
Participants also discussed ways to deepen cooperation between major chipmakers and smaller suppliers, with a focus on building a more resilient domestic supply chain and maintaining Korea's technological competitiveness as global semiconductor investment accelerates.
silverstar@heraldcorp.com