Kumho Electric hits upper limit, Kumho Engineering surges as Chey Tae-won vows to speed up semiconductor factory construction

Shares tied to the Honam semiconductor cluster surged in early trading Monday after SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won pledged to accelerate the project's development.

According to Korea Exchange, Kumho Electric was trading up 29.93 percent at 11,070 won as of 11 a.m. Kumho Engineering & Construction rose 22.53 percent to 13,650 won, while its preferred shares climbed 20.07 percent to 17,890 won.

Both companies are Gwangju- and South Jeolla Province-based firms widely regarded as key beneficiaries of the Honam semiconductor cluster project.

Since the cluster plan was announced in June, shares in Kumho Electric and Kumho Engineering & Construction had surged roughly 2,000 percent and 300 percent, respectively, through August. The stocks had been declining since last month before rebounding on Chey's direct visit to the project site.

The government plans to temporarily relocate operations at the Gwangju military airfield — designated as the cluster site — to another military airfield by mid-2028, with the aim of bringing the semiconductor cluster online sooner. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are each pursuing plans to build two semiconductor fabrication plants in the Honam region, for a combined total of four.

Chey visited the planned Honam semiconductor cluster site at the Gwangju military airfield on Friday, saying SK would push to build the semiconductor factories as quickly as possible. "Semiconductor demand is growing rapidly, so we need to increase the pace of supply as well," he said, adding that if necessary, the Honam complex would be built in parallel with the Yongin complex to move faster.

Chey doubled down on the need for speed in semiconductor investment at an event in Shanghai, China, on Sunday. "We need to do something as fast as possible," he said. "If China or US-based Micron scales up faster, South Korea's market share will shrink."