SK Hynix is preparing its first major chip fab in Japan. Hankyoreh reports the company is advancing plans for a memory semiconductor plant in Miyagi Prefecture in the Tohoku region. Investment is pegged at tens of trillions of won. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently visited the area. Miyagi is one of three semiconductor hubs prioritized by the Japanese government, alongside Kyushu and Hokkaido. The facility would be an additional overseas base while the company continues its much larger domestic clusters in Yongin and Honam. If it proceeds, SK Hynix would become only the third foreign company with a manufacturing plant in Japan after Micron and TSMC. Samsung has limited itself to packaging R&D in Yokohama. The move aims to expand capacity amid ongoing global memory shortages. It also carries complications. Stronger US pressure for domestic memory production could intensify, and Korean public opinion remains sensitive about strategic semiconductor investments in Japan. This would mark a notable geographic diversification for one of the top HBM suppliers.