Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Friday criticized the government for exerting influence over Samsung Electronics and SK hynix's planned semiconductor investments in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province. The move appears aimed at raising his profile as a leading opposition contender, ahead of President Lee Jae-myung's planned unveiling of a Honam semiconductor cluster plan on the 29th.
In a Facebook post titled "Strategic Recklessness for Hardcore Supporters Alone, With the Damage Falling Entirely on the People," Oh wrote that "the large-scale Honam semiconductor investment led by the presidential office is a 'privatization of state affairs' that twists the arms of large corporations and infringes on corporate freedom for the sake of vote-counting."
He added that "while ignoring the securing of power, water, and talent that are survival conditions for the industry, it is undermining national competitiveness through irresponsible intervention aimed solely at rallying supporters for elections." He continued, "Both semiconductors, the engine of future growth, and judicial justice that protects the people have been reduced to tools for catering to the tastes of hardcore supporters and maintaining the regime."
Oh said, "What is more serious is that it is even breaking down the national judicial system by riding on hardcore supporters' hostility toward the prosecution." He added, "If the neutralization of the supplementary investigation authority, which even the government's advisory committee warned against, is pushed through, fatal damage will occur due to unchecked, shoddy investigations and the possibility of corruption, and this will be borne entirely by individual citizens."
"President Lee Jae-myung must correctly read the public sentiment from the last election," he said. "What the people are waiting for is not arrogant power games that look only to a portion of supporters, but fair and competent politics that protect the lives of all citizens." He added, "If the strategic recklessness that harms the people is not stopped immediately, what awaits is nothing but a stern judgment."
After attending the People Power Party's Seoul chapter workshop for those elected on June 3, Oh also met with reporters Friday and said, "The common thread between these two issues (the Honam region semiconductor investment and the supplementary investigation authority) is that a particular party is using matters tied to the nation's future and people's livelihoods for its own party convention." He criticized it as "a truly irresponsible policy approach for a ruling party."
He continued, "The government is effectively steering it toward a particular region and using it for internal party politics." He said, "The people are all watching that they are using such topics as a means to appeal to hardline supporters during the convention phase, and it cannot but become a target of public condemnation."
