00:02You're listening to AI PRISM, from Seoul Economic Daily.
00:06SK Group's chairman just signaled a major new investment decision,
00:10and it could reshape the memory chip industry's competitive map.
00:13Che Taiwon says SK Hynix could deepen ties with Japan's Keoxia,
00:17and he'll finalize a new overseas factory decision by year-end.
00:21At the same time, Korea's defense industry is pouring record R&D money into next-generation systems
00:27as order backlogs approach $100 trillion won.
00:30And a persistent talent shortage outside Seoul is now forcing even government agencies
00:35to base new offices in the capital region.
00:38It's Thursday, September 3rd.
00:40Let's look at a business story shaping corporate Korea.
00:43SK Hynix already holds enough Keoxia convertible bonds to control most of its voting rights,
00:49making it the Japanese company's de facto largest shareholder.
00:52Samsung Electronics currently leads the global NAND flash market,
00:56but Keoxia has just been overtaken by China's YMTC for third place.
01:01A combined SK Hynix-Keoxia position would surpass Samsung's current share,
01:06raising the stakes on how far this partnership goes.
01:09Here's what the numbers show.
01:10Che said Korea's current memory chip investments alone can't close a shortfall.
01:14He estimates at 20 to 30 percent of data center memory demand.
01:18Samsung holds 25 percent of global NAND shipments.
01:22SK Hynix 22 percent.
01:24YMTC 14 percent.
01:26And Keoxia 14 percent.
01:28The first time YMTC has edged ahead of Keoxia for third place.
01:32Korea's four major defense contractors are projected to post combined revenue of $49.8 trillion won this year,
01:39up 22.7 percent from last year,
01:42with combined order backlogs near $98.5 trillion won.
01:46Those same four companies spent $1.05 trillion won on R&D in just the first half of this year,
01:52nearly matching all of last year's $1.6 trillion won in 12 months.
01:57Doosan Fuel Cell signed a $501.4 billion won contract to supply fuel cells to a U.S. affiliate for
02:03AI data center Power,
02:04a deal worth 110 percent of last year's total revenue.
02:0863.5 percent of Korea's national strategic technology corporate research labs are now based in the greater Seoul area,
02:16and voluntary departures roughly doubled at agencies that relocated outside the capital region.
02:21So what does this mean for CEOs and boards overseeing Korean operations?
02:25Earlier, we flagged the SK-Keoxia partnership as a potential shift in NAND market share.
02:31If that deal advances, Samsung's leadership position gets its first real structural challenge in years.
02:37Defense and data center-adjacent manufacturers are showing that R&D and CapEx spent now on next-generation capacity
02:44is translating directly into order backlogs and revenue growth.
02:48But the talent concentration data is a board-level warning.
02:51If your operations sit outside Seoul, expect recruitment and retention to keep getting harder,
02:57unless you can offer competitive infrastructure.
03:00First, Che Taewon's year-end announcement on new overseas memory chip investment sites.
03:05Second, whether SK Hynix formalizes a production, or R&D partnership with Keoxia.
03:11Third, this month's MSPO defense exhibition in Poland, where further Korean weapons contracts are expected.
03:18That's today's AI Prism CEO.
03:20This episode was produced with AI assistants based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting
03:25and reviewed by a human editor.
03:28AI Prism is a WANIFRA award-winning series.
03:30We'll be back tomorrow.
03:32You've been listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
