On September 28, according to South Korean media SME Daily citing industry sources, SK Hynix (SKHY.O) has commenced preliminary construction of a semiconductor wafer factory in Japan's Tohoku region, with on-site foundation work currently underway. It remains unclear whether the project will be operated independently by SK Hynix or in collaboration with Kioxia, but the progress indicates SK Hynix's intention to enter the Japanese market. To address the shortage of memory chip supply, the company has also recently requested South Korean component suppliers to expand their supply. A month ago, SK Hynix stated that the Japanese memory chip wafer factory project was still in the evaluation phase and no specific plans had been determined. If the news is true, the project has advanced rapidly, entering the site preparation stage in just one month. If the project is ultimately realized, SK Hynix will deploy memory chip production capacity in Japan's Tohoku region, forming a 'triangular layout' for Japan's semiconductor industry alongside TSMC's Kyushu project and the Hokkaido project of Japan's domestic foundry enterprise Rapidus. However, SK Hynix reiterated that the Japanese memory chip wafer factory project is still in the evaluation phase and no new progress has been made.