SK Hynix has raised $26.5 billion, approximately 40 trillion won, through the issuance of American Depositary Receipts (ADR).

The funds are scheduled to be paid to SK Hynix on July 14, when the public offering process concludes.

SK Hynix plans to use these funds for domestic investments, including the construction of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster and a cutting-edge packaging plant in Cheongju, as well as the acquisition of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment.

Unlike cases where dollars are held for overseas investment, this means that a massive amount of dollars, reaching 40 trillion won, will be converted into Korean won and supplied to the domestic foreign exchange market on a large scale. Analysts suggest this could serve as a factor to stabilize the recent prolonged weakness of the won, or the upward trend in exchange rates.

The scale of this fundraising exceeds the $19.8 billion that was actually supplied to the domestic market through the South Korea-U.S. currency swap to stabilize financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

It is equivalent to about 73% of South Korea's total trade surplus in June and roughly double the amount of dollars the foreign exchange authorities poured into the market to defend the exchange rate in the first quarter of this year, leading to assessments that it is on a "currency swap level."

In the actual foreign exchange market, even before the ADR issuance was finalized, forward exchange selling orders emerged, causing the won-dollar exchange rate, which had climbed to around 1,560 won during the day, to fall back into the 1,400 won range.

However, concerns remain that such domestic investments could lead to pressure for future investments in the United States.

Reported by So Hwan-uk | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News