Yongin national chip cluster construction begins this month amid compensation, fast-track risks

Construction of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex in Gyeonggi Province is set to begin this month amid compensation disputes and pressure to meet a fast-track deadline. The project will house Samsung Electronics’ foundry and memory fabs and is being overseen by Korea Land & Housing Corp. under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. LH says the cluster is moving ahead on an accelerated schedule, with completion targeted for 2040.

The national complex covers 7.78 square kilometers, and the first construction zone spans 3.45 square kilometers, including the site for Samsung Electronics’ first fab.

A Daewoo E&C-led consortium won the site development and infrastructure contract with a bid of 868.6 billion won, and LH plans to sign the construction contract later this month.

LH says compensation procedures are completed or at settlement stage for 99 percent of privately owned land subject to compensation, while 43 percent of landowners have agreed to restitution proposals.

The project includes plans for six fabs, three liquefied natural gas power plant units, an electrical substation, new housing, a highway expansion and a commercial and leisure sector.

LH aims to finish site preparation so Samsung Electronics can begin construction of its first fab by 2028, and the overall project has been pushed seven years ahead of the original schedule to 2040.

Published Oct 1, 2026 12:00 pm KST

Site for 1st fab for Samsung Electronics to be prepared by 2028

An illustration of the planned Yongin Semiconductor National Industrial Complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of LH

YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province — Korea’s ambitious plan to expand domestic semiconductor production capacity and strengthen its position in the global chip supply chain will take another step forward this month, as construction is set to begin on the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex in Gyeonggi Province this month.

The initiative, however, is not free from possible delays, including compensation for residents and businesses already at the site and pressure to meet fast-track construction deadlines ordered by President Lee Jae Myung, who is determined to capitalize on soaring artificial intelligence (AI)-driven memory demand before it cools.

Two semiconductor clusters are currently planned in Yongin’s Cheoin District. One is the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster General Industrial Complex, where SK hynix is already building its memory chip fabs, and the other is the Yongin System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex, which is set to break ground this month and will house Samsung Electronics’ foundry and memory fabs.

The Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH), under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is overseeing the national complex project and has selected a consortium led by Daewoo E&C as the constructor to lead what the government describes as one of the world's largest chip clusters.

As the president has stressed the need to move quickly to avoid missing the current AI-driven chip boom, the government designated the national cluster as a fast-track project, cutting the time required for administrative procedures by half compared with other infrastructure projects and pushing LH and Samsung Electronics to complete the project by 2040, seven years ahead of the original schedule.

The project has progressed at an accelerated pace since Yongin was selected as a candidate site in March 2023. According to LH, the industrial complex plan was approved in just one year and nine months, two years and nine months faster than the average for national industrial complex projects.

The pace has accelerated further under the Lee administration. Compensation procedures began one year and seven months earlier than the average for previous projects, while the selection of bidders for planning and construction came 10 months earlier.

A mountain on the outskirts of the Yongin System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex's construction site is seen deforested for the site arrangement, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan

The time-pressed schedule has drawn criticism over unresolved issues surrounding the project. The Korea Federation for Environmental Movement on Monday criticized the Lee administration, saying construction is moving forward despite unresolved compensation disputes with landowners and complaints among local communities in Cheoin District over plans to build new power transmission towers and secure water supplies for the fabs.

During a rally at the National Assembly, the activist group claimed that more than half of the landowners have refused LH’s compensation proposals and oppose the construction.

LH refuted the claim, saying most of the landowners and businesses have agreed to relocation.

“Compensation procedures have been completed or advanced to settlement stages for 99 percent of the privately owned land subject to compensation," said Yoon Ki-jong, general manager of the LH’s Yongin Project Division and Compensation Marketing Team.

"Forty-three percent have agreed to our restitution proposals, while the rest have rejected our proposals and sought a higher level of compensation by submitting applications for adjudication on expropriation. We are in need of their cooperation. ... We have secured a new location (in the site’s vicinity) to move their homes, livestock and businesses. The discussion is still underway.”

There are also 27 designated locations within the site where surveys for buried cultural heritage are underway. Kim Sung-gul, general manager of LH’s Complex Development 1 Team, said one of the locations has been cleared, while negotiations over access to the remaining areas are still underway.

"Part of the site on mountains are owned by family clans enshrining their ancestors there. We’re trying to compensate them for their ownership of the lands,” he said.

LH CEO Lee Seong-hoon speaks during a press conference about the Yongin System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of LH

It remains to be seen whether the project’s fast-track schedule is feasible, and whether they can meet the deadlines for planned infrastructure including six fabs, three liquefied natural gas power plant units, an electrical substation, new housing for the residents, a highway expansion running through the cluster and a commercial/leisure sector for workers of the cluster and their families. The project’s groundbreaking later this month was also originally scheduled for December.

“Priority sectors we must complete the fastest are the fabs, substation, power plants, wastewater treatment facility and retention basin, which are essential infrastructure for Samsung Electronics that will use the cluster,” Kim said. “To save our timeline, we’re simultaneously progressing what we can, like the restitution and arranging the site together, or fab construction and planning areas outside the fabs together.”

LH aims to complete site preparation in time for construction of Samsung Electronics’ first fab to begin by 2028. Of the national cluster’s total 7.78 square kilometers, the first construction zone covers 3.45 square kilometers, including the site for Samsung Electronics’ first fab. A consortium led by Daewoo E&C was selected as the contractor with a bid of 868.6 billion won ($640 million) to carry out site development and infrastructure work. LH is scheduled to sign the construction contract with the consortium later this month.

The initial phase of construction will involve arranging the site by blowing up mountains and carrying off 50 million tons of earth, requiring safety measures like an artificial intelligence-based crash prevention system and special explosives and primers to maximize each blast’s effect. Six fabs with a total of 36 pipelines will be built on the arranged site. With two fabs forming a set, each set of fabs will have a total floor area equal to 10 Lotte World Towers put together, according to Kim.

"To fast-track the cluster, we are breaking away from conventional business practices and actively driving rule-breaking innovations, such as running processes in parallel, to accelerate our momentum,” LH CEO Lee Seong-hoon said during a press conference in Yongin Wednesday. “To support the successful completion of the Lee administration’s three megaprojects, we will work in close cooperation with business operators and relevant agencies to complete the industrial complex ahead of schedule."

尽管面临赔偿纠纷和加快工期的压力，位于京畿道的龙仁半导体产业集群国家工业园区的建设仍将于本月启动。该项目将容纳三星电子的晶圆代工厂和存储器制造厂，由韩国国土交通部下属的韩国土地住宅公社负责监管。土地住宅公社表示，该产业集群正按加速计划推进，目标是在2040年竣工。

该国家级综合体占地 7.78 平方公里，第一建设区占地 3.45 平方公里，其中包括三星电子第一家工厂的所在地。

由大宇建设牵头的财团以 8686 亿韩元的报价赢得了场地开发和基础设施合同，LH 计划在本月晚些时候签署施工合同。

LH表示，99%的受补偿私有土地的补偿程序已经完成或处于结算阶段，而43%的土地所有者已经同意赔偿方案。

该项目包括六个晶圆厂、三个液化天然气发电厂、一个变电站、新住房、高速公路扩建以及商业和休闲区等规划。

LH的目标是在2028年完成场地准备工作，以便三星电子能够开始建设其第一座晶圆厂，而整个项目已比原计划提前7年，至2040年完成。

发布于2026年10月1日韩国时间下午12:00

三星电子首个晶圆厂的厂址将于2028年建成。

京畿道龙仁市龙仁半导体国家产业园区规划示意图 / 图片由LH提供

京畿道龙仁市——韩国雄心勃勃的扩大国内半导体产能、加强其在全球芯片供应链中地位的计划，将于本月迈出又一步，位于京畿道的龙仁半导体集群国家产业园区将于本月开工建设。

然而，这项计划并非没有可能出现延误，包括对已在现场的居民和企业的补偿，以及李在明总统下令加快建设进度的压力。李在明决心在人工智能（AI）驱动的内存需求降温之前，抓住这一增长机遇。

目前龙仁市天仁区规划建设两个半导体产业集群。一个是龙仁半导体产业集群综合体，SK海力士已在此建设其存储芯片工厂；另一个是龙仁系统半导体产业集群国家级工业园区，计划于本月破土动工，将容纳三星电子的晶圆代工厂和存储器工厂。

隶属于国土交通部的韩国土地住宅公社（LH）负责监督国家综合体项目，并已选定由大宇建设牵头的财团作为承建商，负责建设政府所称的全球最大的芯片集群之一。

由于总统强调需要迅速行动以避免错过当前人工智能驱动的芯片热潮，政府将国家集群指定为快速通道项目，与其他基础设施项目相比，将行政程序所需时间缩短了一半，并敦促 LH 和三星电子在 2040 年前完成该项目，比原计划提前 7 年。

自2023年3月龙仁被选为候选地点以来，该项目进展迅速。据LH称，该工业园区规划仅用了1年零9个月就获得批准，比国家级工业园区项目的平均审批时间快了2年零9个月。

李政府执政后，工程进度进一步加快。补偿程序比以往项目的平均进度提前了一年零七个月，而规划和施工投标人的遴选也提前了十个月。

周三，位于龙仁系统半导体集群国家产业园区施工现场附近的一座山被砍伐，以便进行场地规划。（韩国时报 高东焕 摄）

由于项目工期紧张，诸多悬而未决的问题引发了批评。韩国环境运动联合会周一批评李明博政府，称尽管与土地所有者的赔偿纠纷尚未解决，且在天仁区当地居民对新建输电塔和保障晶圆厂供水的计划颇有微词，但工程仍在推进。

在国民议会举行的一次集会上，该活动团体声称，超过一半的土地所有者拒绝了LH的补偿方案，并反对建设。

LH公司驳斥了这一说法，称大多数土地所有者和企业都已同意搬迁。

“对于99%需要补偿的私有土地，补偿程序已经完成或进入结算阶段，”LH龙仁项目部及补偿营销团队总经理尹基钟表示。

“43%的居民同意了我们的补偿方案，其余居民则拒绝了我们的方案，并提交了征地裁决申请，要求更高的补偿。我们需要他们的合作……我们已经找到了一处新的安置地点（在原址附近），供他们搬迁房屋、牲畜和企业。相关讨论仍在进行中。”

该地块内还设有27个指定地点，正在进行地下文化遗产勘测。LH集团综合开发1组总经理金成杰表示，其中一个地点已完成勘测，其余地点的勘测工作仍在进行中。

他说：“山上的部分土地属于一些家族所有，他们在那里祭祀祖先。我们正在努力补偿他们对土地的所有权。”

周三，LH首席执行官李成勋在京畿道龙仁市举行的龙仁系统半导体集群国家产业园区新闻发布会上发表讲话。图片由LH提供。

该项目快速推进的计划是否可行，以及能否按时完成包括六座晶圆厂、三座液化天然气发电厂、一座变电站、居民新住房、贯穿产业集群的高速公路扩建工程以及为产业集群工人和其家属打造的商业/休闲区在内的各项基础设施建设，仍有待观察。该项目原定于12月破土动工，但本月晚些时候的动工仪式也未能如期举行。

金正恩表示：“我们必须尽快完成的优先领域包括晶圆厂、变电站、发电厂、污水处理厂和蓄水池，这些都是三星电子使用该产业集群所必需的基础设施。为了确保工期，我们正在同步推进各项工作，例如场地恢复和规划，以及晶圆厂建设和晶圆厂外区域的规划。”

龙瀚宇（LH）的目标是在2028年之前完成三星电子首座晶圆厂的场地准备工作，确保项目顺利开工。该国家级产业集群总面积为7.78平方公里，其中首期建设区占地3.45平方公里，包括三星电子首座晶圆厂的厂址。由大宇建设牵头的联合体以8686亿韩元（约合6.4亿美元）的中标价被选中，负责场地开发和基础设施建设。龙瀚宇计划于本月晚些时候与该联合体签署施工合同。

建设初期阶段将通过爆破山体并运走5000万吨土方来平整场地，这需要采取一系列安全措施，例如基于人工智能的防撞系统以及特殊的炸药和引爆剂，以最大限度地发挥每次爆破的效果。在平整后的场地上将建造六座晶圆厂，共计36条生产线。据金先生介绍，两座晶圆厂组成一组，每组晶圆厂的总建筑面积相当于10座乐天世界大厦的总和。

“为了加快产业集群的建设，我们正在打破传统的商业模式，积极推进突破常规的创新，例如并行运行多个流程，以加快发展步伐。”李浩瀚首席执行官李成勋周三在龙仁举行的新闻发布会上表示，“为了支持李政府三大项目的顺利完成，我们将与企业运营商和相关机构紧密合作，争取提前建成该产业园区。”