Amkor triples Gwangju investment to $2.3bn for advanced packaging hub

Amkor Technology will triple its planned investment in its plant in its Gwangju plant in South Jeolla Province to 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) from an initial 1 trillion won, expanding advanced packaging capacity to meet surging demand for AI semiconductors and positioning the city as a key production hub.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said Monday that a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the expansion of Amkor Technology Korea’s facility in Buk District, Gwangju.

Amkor announced plans to invest 3 trillion won from 2026 to 2031 and hire 2,000 workers. Compared with the plan outlined by the government in June, the investment has increased by 2 trillion won and planned employment by 1,000.

The company will build four advanced semiconductor packaging facilities for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing applications. Two buildings are scheduled for completion in the second half of 2027, with the remaining two to be completed in the first half of 2028. Production will begin in phases.

Advanced packaging stacks or connects multiple chips to improve computing performance and power efficiency. As physical limits on further shrinking semiconductors circuitry become more pronounced, packaging technology is emerging as a key factor in AI chip performance. Amkor’s expanded investment in Korea reflects this shift in the market, observers noted.

French market research firm Yole Group projected in a report released in July that the advanced packaging market would expand from about $55 billion in 2025 to more than $120 billion by 2031. Growing demand for high-performance chips in AI and high-performance computing is driving the market’s expansion.

Amkor Technology is headquartered in the United States and operates more than 20 facilities across eight countries. It recorded sales of about 9 trillion won last year.

Amkor Technology Korea employs approximately 8,400 people at three facilities in Gwangju, Songdo and Bupyeong, generating annual sales of more than 5 trillion won.

The expansion also marks the first major factory project to move into construction under the government’s initiative to develop advanced industries in southwestern Korea.

Unveiled in June, the initiative aims to establish a semiconductor manufacturing base and build a broader regional industry ecosystem.