Amkor Raises Gwangju Expansion Investment to 3 Trillion Won, Increases Hiring Target
Key Facts
Amkor Technology has raised its planned investment in expanding its Gwangju site in South Korea to 3 trillion won through 2031, according to the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade, in a project to bolster its advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities. A groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion was held on October 19, 2026, as the company moves to increase capacity to meet growing demand for these solutions. The revised budget is 2 trillion won above the original plan, according to the government statement outlining the site's new investment commitment. The company also raised its hiring target by 1000 people compared with its previous plan. The project revision thus includes increased funding for the expansion and a broader hiring program, alongside new buildings under a phased construction schedule.
The Gwangju expansion builds on Amkor's existing presence in South Korea, where the company employs about 8400 people, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's statement. Those employees work across 3 sites in Songdo, Bupyeong and Gwangju, where the announced project is located. The investment focuses on advanced packaging, a technology that combines different chips by stacking and interconnecting them, according to the definition in the government statement. The process aims to improve semiconductor performance and energy efficiency through the way chips are assembled and connected. The ministry described the technology as enabling "the stacking and interconnection of different chips to improve semiconductor performance and energy efficiency," providing technical background on the activity in which Amkor is expanding its capabilities.
As part of the expansion of its Korean operations, Amkor announced a new $1.3 billion agreement with Nvidia on October 21 to support further expansion in South Korea. The company said its multiyear agreements with Nvidia in Arizona and South Korea totaled $3 billion. The announced cooperation between the companies thus spans sites in the United States and South Korea under multiyear commercial commitments. Amkor said Nvidia's prepayments help align manufacturing capacity with its customer's long-term growth plans. It said in its statement that the payments "align Amkor's manufacturing capacity with Nvidia's long-term growth plans and support increasing demand for advanced packaging solutions." The arrangement links manufacturing capacity expansion to Nvidia's future needs as defined by its plans, and to the increase in demand Amkor cited in announcing the agreement.
On financial performance, Amkor reported net sales of $1.90 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to its earnings statement for the period. Sales rose 26% from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the company's year-on-year comparison. Amkor described the result as a second-quarter record as it presented its capital expenditure outlook for the year. That outlook included total capital expenditure of approximately $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion for 2026. The range covers expected annual spending across the company, while the announced investment commitment for the Gwangju site extends through 2031.
According to the expansion schedule outlined by the ministry, Amkor aims to complete two buildings in Gwangju in the second half of the year following the project's announcement. It then plans to complete two additional buildings in the first half of 2028, spreading the announced construction work across two successive phases. Over the longer term, the company aims to hire 2000 people by 2031 as part of the site's expansion plan. The nearer date on its financial reporting calendar is the release of its third-quarter 2026 results on Monday, October 26. Amkor scheduled the release for after the close of trading on Nasdaq, with its next quarterly disclosures following the announcements of the Gwangju expansion and the new Nvidia agreement.