Samsung is constructing a large semiconductor manufacturing complex in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, to supply the memory chips needed by generative AI models. GPUs that run these models require high-bandwidth memory chips packaged alongside the processors, and rising demand has prompted Samsung to accelerate capacity expansion.
At the Pyeongtaek site three fabrication plants (fabs) already run around the clock, and a fourth is coming online. Construction of a fifth fab was halted in 2024 after a drop in memory-chip demand, but work resumed when the AI boom drove demand back up.
A busy construction campus
The Pyeongtaek complex covers an area roughly the size of New York City’s Central Park. On a Monday before noon, thousands of workers emerge from the fabs: dressed in black with sky-blue vests, helmets marked with names and fab numbers. Many commute on shuttle buses from Songtan, an older district, while others use scooters or motorcycles to move around the large campus.
Nearby amenities have responded: buffets, diners and short-term rental adverts line the streets; some construction workers even visit real-estate offices where Samsung’s salaried engineers buy homes.
Safety and working conditions
Safety is emphasized across the site. In front of the fourth fab, Choi Hye-rin, a 35-year-old safety officer, described her role overseeing a crew that installs cable ducts: she files reports, inspects equipment and checks the chemicals workers handle. Hundreds of women work on site, many as spotters who walk ahead of heavy machinery to indicate hazards.
After lunch the work resumes immediately. Excavators move past rust-red steel frames rising beneath tower cranes. Safety messages hang from high girders, including banners that read, “Even if the work runs late, don’t rush.” A giant LED scoreboard displays winners of a poem contest about safety, and stickers on helmets proclaim, “I will not work if it’s not safe.”
The work is physically demanding and the conditions can be hot, but some workers find the pay and pace attractive: Choi Hye-rin earns 140,000 won per day (about $97) and expects continued employment as the expansion continues: “You just keep coming back.”
Strategic context and implications
Samsung’s expansion in Pyeongtaek aims to regain ground in the memory-chip market. For years the domestic rival SK Hynix has pulled ahead in high-bandwidth memory segments that power Nvidia’s AI accelerators. Meanwhile, Taiwanese TSMC remains dominant in the foundry business, manufacturing chips designed by other companies.
Samsung projects that memory demand will continue to surge through 2028, underpinning the urgency to bring new capacity online and to restart previously paused construction projects.
The Pyeongtaek build-out not only creates jobs and boosts the local economy but also represents a strategic move by Samsung to strengthen its market position as global demand for AI-capable memory rises.
