South Korean giants Samsung and SK Hynix have rejected KEPCO’s proposal to prepay 25 trillion won (approximately $17-18.4 billion) for electricity infrastructure needed for their new semiconductor fabrication plants. KEPCO, carrying 210.7 trillion won in debt, was spending roughly 11.5 billion won per day on interest payments alone. Samsung’s share would have been 20 trillion won while SK Hynix would have contributed 5 trillion won. Both companies cited uncertainty about the sustainability of AI-driven semiconductor demand as the reason for their refusal. Without this infrastructure, new chip clusters planned in Yongin and the Honam region cannot operate.
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