March 6, 2003 – Seoul, Korea – Chip foundry Dongbu Electronics said it will initiate capital spending of 300 billion won (US$252.04 million) for its plant in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, later this month.

The move comes after the government recently eased environmental restrictions in the factory’s area and designated it as a water resource reserve.

“Following the government action, we will start making facility investments, which had been shelved for the past three months,” a company official said.

After selecting a contractor by April, Dongbu Electronics will build a production line by year-end, which will have a capacity of 3,000 0.13-micron wafers/month, reported Asia Pulse.

In addition, Dongbu Electronics will increase its 0.18-micron wafer production to 8,000 from the current 5,000.

The facility investments will be financed by the 60-billion-won capital increase by Anam Semiconductors late last year, a syndicated loan of 188 billion won and 52 billion won in bank loans.

Dongbu Electronics is scheduled to complete its merger with Anam Semiconductors within the first half of this year.

“Once the capacity increase is completed, Dongbu will be able to compete with its rivals in Taiwan and China,” the official said.

Dongbu will spend a total of one trillion won on facility expansion by 2006, raising its capacity to 40,000 wafers/year, the official added.