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2026-07-14 12:06:12
[South Korea's ruling Democratic Party Plans to Amend Law to Relax Shareholding Restrictions, SK Hynix May Be Able to Introduce External Investment] 1. South Korea's ruling Democratic Party is seeking to amend the "Special Measures Act for Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National Advanced Strategic Industries" to relax shareholding restrictions when a subsidiary of a holding company establishes a subsidiary for a subsidiary. Under the current "Fair Trade Act," a subsidiary of a holding company must hold 100% of the shares of its subsidiary for a subsidiary, preventing the introduction of external capital. 2. The core of the proposed amendment is that for advanced technology companies recognized by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, their subsidiaries will be allowed to reduce their shareholding from 100% to 50% when establishing a subsidiary for a subsidiary outside the Seoul metropolitan area. The remaining 50% can be funded by external investors. 3. If the bill is passed, SK Hynix, as a subsidiary of SK Group's holding company SK®, will be able to introduce external investors when establishing a project company for the development of its southwestern semiconductor cluster. Previously, SK Hynix could only operate such project companies as wholly-owned subsidiaries, limiting its external financing channels. 4. The background to this amendment is the sharp rise in wafer fab construction costs, making it difficult for a single company to meet the needs of large-scale investment through traditional financing methods. Lawmaker Kim Won-yi stated that this move aims to "diversify fundraising methods and encourage active investment by improving the investment system." 5. This amendment is part of the South Korean government's "Three Mega-Projects" plan—a plan that proposes Samsung Electronics build two memory chip plants in Gwangju and Jeolla Province, and SK Hynix build two additional wafer fabs, with a total investment of 4.755 trillion won (approximately US$3.16 trillion). The ruling party and the government are striving to push the bill through during the regular parliamentary session starting in September.
