Four American companies have pledged a combined $2bn in US investment in South Korea’s chips and renewable energy sectors, with commitments secured at a declaration ceremony and investor roundtable in Washington on 3 September. South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency organised the event to channel foreign capital into the country’s strategic industrial priorities.
The four companies involved are Air Products, Axcelis Technologies, Corning and Pacifico Energy. Each is committing to a distinct part of South Korea’s industrial base, from semiconductor gases and wafer-fabrication equipment through to advanced materials and offshore wind generation.
Samsung fab deal anchors US investment in South Korea’s chip supply chain
Air Products is taking on what is arguably the most specific commitment of the four. According to PR Newswire, the company will build, own and operate multiple production facilities and a bulk specialty gas supply system to serve Samsung Electronics’ next-generation semiconductor fab in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul. The system will supply nitrogen, oxygen, argon and hydrogen, covering the ultra-pure and specialty rare gases that chip fabrication requires at high precision. The new facilities are expected to come onstream in multiple phases from 2028 through 2030.
Axcelis Technologies plans to enlarge its ion implanter operations, also in Pyeongtaek. Its South Korean site is the company’s only ion implanter manufacturing base outside the United States. The expansion will add engineering, prototype development and training capabilities alongside increased production capacity, broadening the plant’s role considerably.
Corning will modernise its Asan facility in South Chungcheong Province, deploying newer manufacturing processes for advanced materials and upgrading existing production lines. The US group has operated in South Korea since 1973 and supplies materials used in displays and glass products. The Asan upgrade is designed to bring those long-established operations in line with current manufacturing standards.
Pacifico Energy is moving ahead with a 3.2GW offshore wind scheme near Jindo in South Jeolla Province. The project is intended to address rising electricity demand from high-consumption industries, artificial intelligence data centres among them.
Government frames the pledges around three national mega-projects
For Seoul, the investment commitments serve a broader policy purpose. The government has made semiconductors, AI data centres and physical AI the centrepiece of what it calls its three mega-projects for economic development, and the commitments announced in Washington map directly onto that agenda. The Pyeongtaek corridor is central to South Korea’s chip ambitions, and securing foreign capital for gas supply infrastructure and ion implanter capacity there directly reinforces domestic production networks.
Kang Kyung-sung, president of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, put the context plainly at the Washington event: ‘This investment carries significant meaning because it is directly linked to the semiconductor, AI data centre and physical AI sectors at the heart of the government’s three mega projects for a great leap forward for the Republic of Korea. We will continue to do our best to further expand investment in Korea by global advanced technology companies.’
Reducing reliance on external supply in strategic sectors is an explicit aim. South Korea has invested heavily in domestic semiconductor output but remains dependent on imported equipment, gases and advanced materials. The Air Products and Axcelis commitments in particular address that gap directly, localising capacity that would otherwise sit overseas.
The $2bn in total pledges covers a range of timescales and project stages. Some, such as the Corning modernisation, involve existing facilities being upgraded. Others, including Air Products’ multi-facility gas supply build-out and the Pacifico offshore wind scheme, are substantive new developments that will take several years to reach full operation. Air Products’ phased commissioning running from 2028 through 2030 gives a clearer timeline than most large industrial commitments of this type, and ties the supply chain investment directly to Samsung’s own construction schedule for the next-generation fab it is building in Pyeongtaek.
