SK Hynix Discusses Semiconductor Production in the U.S. and Coupang Rejects Compensation for Data Leak

[Anchor]

It's Thursday for "Friendly Economy" with reporter Han Jiyeon. Han, reports suggest that SK Hynix might produce semiconductors in the United States?

[Reporter]

SK Hynix is discussing a plan to utilize an Intel factory to produce its first memory semiconductors in the U.S.

According to Reuters reports, a plan where SK Hynix would lease a portion of the factory Intel is building in Ohio, as well as a plan for Intel and cloud companies to jointly establish a joint venture, are being reviewed.

If this succeeds, it could also be a significant achievement for the Trump administration, which has been trying to increase domestic semiconductor production.

However, the Ohio plant has not yet been completed.

The first plant aims for completion in 2030 and the second in 2031, which is significantly delayed from the original schedule.

To avoid confusion, the plant that SK Hynix is already building in Indiana, U.S., with an investment of 4 billion dollars, is a facility where DRAM produced elsewhere is packaged into HBM.

If this current negotiation succeeds, it will be SK Hynix's first U.S. plant to produce memory chips starting from the wafer stage.

However, it has not yet been announced what kind of memory chips will be made there.

[Anchor]

Even if production is increased, there doesn't seem to be much reason to go to the U.S. Is it because of tariffs?

[Reporter]

The impact of tariffs is certainly a major factor, of course.

The growing advantages of production within the U.S. are also aspects that cannot be ignored.

And as you mentioned, the burden of not producing there has also grown to some extent.

Since labor costs, factory construction costs, and parts supply chains for semiconductors are mostly concentrated in Asia, producing them in the United States costs significantly more.

However, recently, the business reasons to absorb these costs have grown stronger.

With surging investments in AI and data centers, demand has increased to the point where memory is in short supply, creating an opportunity for SK Hynix to expand its supply relationships with U.S. customers.

Conversely, the burden of not manufacturing in the U.S. has also increased.

Recently, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce warned that tariffs of up to 100 percent could be imposed if domestic production is not increased.

It also aligns with Intel's interests.

Intel can ease its investment burden by utilizing a delayed factory, while SK Hynix can expand its production base within the United States.

In fact, the stock prices of both companies rose together following this report.

However, utilizing national core technologies to produce overseas requires a review by the South Korean government.

The government has also been demanding that domestic semiconductor cluster investments be expedited.

Ultimately, SK Hynix is in a position where it must simultaneously weigh local production demands from the U.S. against domestic investment and technology transfer issues.

SK Hynix stated that nothing has been decided, while Intel avoided specific answers, calling it speculative reporting.

[Anchor]

What is the final piece of news?

[Reporter]

Coupang has expressed its refusal to accept the Korea Consumer Agency's collective dispute mediation proposal to compensate victims 100,000 won per person.

While the scale of personal information leaked that Coupang initially reported was about 4,500 people, the government's final investigation showed it expanded to approximately 37.55 million people.

In addition to names, phone numbers, and addresses, some shared entrance passwords and order histories were also leaked.

Payment information and account passwords were not included.

It was also confirmed that the leaker directly sent emails to some customers.

Because of this, the Korea Consumer Agency judged that there was a possibility the leaked information could actually be exploited.

The unauthorized access to customer information was carried out using an authentication signature key taken by a former employee.

Coupang's failure to properly manage the signature key and access controls was pointed out as the cause of the accident.

This time, 50 victims applied for collective dispute mediation.

The Korea Consumer Agency recognized Coupang's liability for damages and decided that 100,000 won per person should be paid.

If Coupang had accepted this, a process to apply the same compensation plan to other victims could have proceeded.

Applied to all leak targets, the scale amounts to approximately 3.7 trillion won.

Coupang cited the fact that it had already provided victims with 50,000 won shopping vouchers and was imposed a fine amounting to 600 billion won.

However, pointing out that the shopping vouchers are benefits usable only within Coupang, critics note that this mediation proposal is of a different nature as it is consolation money for leak damage.

Dispute mediation does not materialize if either side refuses.

Therefore, the likelihood has increased that victims will have to resort to civil lawsuits to receive additional compensation.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.