LS Cable & System will build a rare earth permanent magnet production plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, at the largest scale in South Korea.
LS Cable & System announced on the 30th that its subsidiary for the rare earth permanent magnet business, Korea Motion Works, signed an investment agreement (MOU) with North Gyeongsang Province and Gumi City on the 29th to establish a production facility worth approximately 350 billion won. Key officials attended the signing ceremony, including National Assembly members Koo Ja-geun and Kang Myeong-gu, Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of North Gyeongsang Province, and Kim Jang-ho, Mayor of Gumi City.
Korea Motion Works plans to break ground in the first half of 2027 and begin mass production of neodymium (NdFeB) permanent magnets for robots and electric vehicles in the second half of 2028, with plans to expand production to include samarium-cobalt (SmCo) permanent magnets for defense applications. The annual production capacity will exceed 1,000 tons, accounting for approximately 17% of South Korea's domestic demand of about 6,000 tons.
LS Cable & System plans to build a non-China supply chain from raw materials to finished products by linking rare earth raw material supply from Australia's Lynas, rare earth metal production in Vietnam by LS Eco Energy, and permanent magnet manufacturing in the United States and South Korea. LS Cable & System is building new growth engines in the rare earth sector.
The Gumi plant is expected to become a key production hub for the non-China supply chain. Based on this, LS Cable & System plans to target the global defense, robotics, and electric vehicle markets.
LS Cable & System explained that it selected Gumi as its final investment site after comprehensively considering Gumi's excellent industrial infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities, as well as the active investment attraction efforts and willingness to provide administrative support from North Gyeongsang Province and Gumi City.
Hong Yeong-ho, CEO of Korea Motion Works, said, "We will develop Gumi into a rare earth permanent magnet production hub that draws global attention and grow together with the region." Kang Myeong-gu, a National Assembly member from the People Power Party (Gumi City Eul district, North Gyeongsang Province), stated, "This investment will be an important opportunity for Gumi to leap forward as a core material supply hub for the nation's advanced industries," adding, "The National Assembly will also lend its support to ensure that the rare earth permanent magnet production base is firmly established."
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