TOK Advanced Materials Completes Pyeongtaek Poseung Factory...Secures Hub for Semiconductor Core Materials

TOK (Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.), a world-class semiconductor core materials company that successfully attracted investment by the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone Authority in 2023, has completed its manufacturing facility in the Poseung (BIX) district of Pyeongtaek under the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone Authority three years after the investment was secured.

The completion ceremony for TOK Advanced Materials' Pyeongtaek factory held on the 15th was attended by approximately 100 people, including Kim Neung-sik, director of the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone Authority; Choi Won-yong, mayor of Pyeongtaek; Noriaki Taneichi, representative director of TOK (Tokyo Ohka Kogyo); Kim Ki-tae, representative of TOK Advanced Materials; and business officials.

TOK Advanced Materials will invest a total of 101 billion won on a site covering 55,560 square meters (16,807 pyeong). In the first phase, it will establish manufacturing facilities for high-purity chemical products, with plans to construct photoresist manufacturing facilities in the future. Photoresist is a key semiconductor material used to etch circuits onto silicon wafers. Of this investment, 70.6 billion won is direct foreign investment, and approximately 70 new jobs are expected to be created.

TOK Advanced Materials is the Korean subsidiary of TOK (Tokyo Ohka Kogyo), and TOK is the world's leading photoresist manufacturer with the number one market share, supplying to Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, TSMC, Intel, and others.

This completion is the result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed when the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone Authority directly visited TOK's headquarters in Kanagawa, Japan in April 2023. At the time, they discussed cooperation measures with the goal of 'attracting a world-class semiconductor materials production facility to the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone Authority,' and achieved completion after more than three years.

With the completion of TOK's Pyeongtaek factory, the domestic self-sufficiency rate for semiconductor core materials, which have high dependence on Japan, is expected to expand, and supply chain stability and technological independence are projected to improve. Additionally, the completion of the 'K-Semiconductor Belt' is anticipated.

Gyeonggi Province is establishing the world's largest semiconductor cluster, connecting semiconductor industry hubs including Poseung and Hyunduk districts in Pyeongtaek with Yongin, Icheon, Hwaseong, and Anseong, and Poseung and Hyunduk districts are expected to become the western coast gateway and advanced materials hub of the semiconductor belt.

Kim Neung-sik, director of the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone Authority, said, "Semiconductors are advanced strategic industries that determine national competitiveness, and with the completion of TOK, an advanced semiconductor company, we have emerged as a hub for semiconductor core materials."