Selected for R&D Preliminary Feasibility Study for 900 Billion Won Scale Mini Fab Construction

'2024 2nd National R&D Project Evaluation General Committee Meeting Held
Support for Advanced Semiconductor Mass Production
Discussion on US-style R&D Preliminary Feasibility Study Also Conducted'

On the afternoon of January 15, construction was underway at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster site in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 16th that it held the "2nd National R&D Project Evaluation General Committee of 2024" and selected the "Advanced Semiconductor Mass Production-Linked Performance Evaluation Facility (Mini Fab) Infrastructure Construction Project" as a target project for R&D preliminary feasibility study.

This project aims to establish semiconductor process equipment based on 12-inch wafers with up to 10 nm (nanometer, one billionth of a meter) scale, building infrastructure that supports all demonstration work so that technologies and products developed by material, parts, and equipment companies can be rapidly applied to semiconductor mass production.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy requested a total budget of 906 billion KRW, including 393 billion KRW in national funds, 73 billion KRW in local funds, and 440 billion KRW in private investment, over seven years starting from 2025 to jointly build the mini fab with SK Hynix at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster.

Joo Young-chang, Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "We will continue to select target projects focusing on urgent and important projects at the national level while maintaining a sound fiscal policy."

Meanwhile, the committee also listened to an explanation and held discussions on the U.S. large-scale R&D project preliminary review system. Professor Joo Kyung-sun from the University of Connecticut, formerly of the U.S. Department of Energy, emphasized that the U.S. applies feasibility studies not to technology development projects but to large research equipment and facility construction projects, highlighting implications for Korea as well.