Japanese play for SK Hynix chip plant faces South Korean policy hurdles

SemiconductorsLocal government wants cutting-edge fab, but Seoul wary of tech leaking abroadSK Hynix competes with Samsung as one of the world's largest memory chip makers. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok)NAMI MATSUURA and HIDEKAZU IMAISeptember 1, 2026 03:03 JSTSEOUL/SENDAI, Japan -- Northeast Japan's Miyagi prefecture wants South Korea's SK Hynix to build a cutting-edge memory chip plant there, but is bumping up against similar lobbying efforts by Washington, as well as Seoul's reluctance to approve new foreign facilities over technology leak concerns.