SK Hynix Cheongju Plant Catches Fire Twice in 11 Days, 3,600 Evacuated
Miles Bennett
A gas room at SK Hynix's Cheongju campus caught fire again on June 12, forcing 3,600 workers to evacuate — the second such incident in 11 days, with production impact still under review.
What happened this time?
At 9:50 a.m. on June 12, a fire broke out in the second-floor gas room of Building 4's M15X at SK Hynix's Cheongju campus. All 3,600 workers in the M15 and M15X fabs evacuated immediately.
On-site workers extinguished the fire themselves. Authorities confirmed no injuries and no gas leaks.
SK Hynix said the incident "appears to have occurred during gas-related work," but the exact cause is still under investigation.
How serious was the fire 11 days earlier?
On June 1 at 10:32 a.m., a sixth-floor gas room in the corridor connecting M15 and M15X caught fire at the same campus, triggering the same 3,600-person evacuation.
Sprinklers brought that fire under control, but some fluorine gas leaked in the process, injuring six workers who were taken to the company hospital.
This means → both fires started in gas rooms — critical zones where specialty process gases are stored and piped for chip manufacturing. The pattern is strikingly similar.
How big is the production impact?
After the June 1 fire, SK Hynix said equipment operations were normal and production was not disrupted, pledging to cooperate with regulators.
This time, evacuated workers have not yet returned. The company explicitly stated that "whether production equipment has been affected is still being verified."
In plain terms = last time they said "no impact"; this time they are not ready to make that call. Two fires in the same type of area within 11 days — the production-continuity verdict now depends on the investigation results.
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