As Seoul Economic Daily reported in its January 24 edition that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will build a large-scale semiconductor cluster in Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City, the presidential office publicly announced its plan to establish a chip cluster in the Honam region. Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, said at a Kwanhun Club debate that day that discussions on creating regional chip clusters in areas such as Honam and Chungcheong were "approaching the final stage of discussion." Kim stressed that the concept is not a relocation of the Yongin cluster currently under construction, but the addition of a new second cluster. According to this newspaper's report, the two companies plan to invest more than 300 trillion won in Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City to build a memory chip production line (front-end process), a packaging (back-end process) plant, and an AI data center. This semiconductor cluster development and investment plan is expected to be announced at a public-private joint meeting at the presidential office chaired by President Lee Jae-myung on January 29.
The semiconductor industry achieves the greatest efficiency when a comprehensive ecosystem—front-end and back-end facilities, as well as research and development facilities, materials, parts and equipment companies, and talent education and training infrastructure—is concentrated in one location. Nevertheless, if the government persuaded Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to build a new cluster in a regional area rather than in a semiconductor complex in the Seoul metropolitan area, it must guarantee and deliver world-class support. First, it must complete the necessary infrastructure in a timely manner and provide a package of fiscal, tax, and financial support along with regulatory exemptions. It is also important to ensure that excess tax revenue earned from the semiconductor boom is reinvested in the chip industry as a top priority. It is also urgent to create living conditions comparable to those in the Seoul metropolitan area to resolve talent's reluctance to work in regional areas.
Political logic must be thoroughly excluded from the process of pursuing the new second cluster. The final site selection and the establishment of power and water supply plans must be carried out solely from the standpoint of securing an insurmountable lead in semiconductor competitiveness. Under no circumstances should the power supply plan be held back by projects such as the "sunlight pension" scheme that the ruling bloc pledged to the Honam region. For power, stable and economical nuclear power generation should be the main source of electricity, rather than renewable energy, which carries problems of intermittency and economic viability. Uniform labor regulations, such as the 52-hour workweek, must also be made more flexible to suit the characteristics of each industry. The labor sector's unreasonable and excessive demands for the distribution of excess profits must also be restrained so that the bold regional investment decisions by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix can bear proper fruit.
