Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, has pushed back against claims of a "southwestern water shortage" raised in connection with plans for a second semiconductor cluster in the Honam region. With large-scale investment plans for semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI set to be unveiled at the "Korea's Great Leap Forward Three Mega-Projects National Report Session" presided over by President Lee Jae-myung on June 29, Kim issued a direct message on the power and water issues that are central variables in the siting debate.
In a post titled "Water on the Korean Peninsula, the Truth About the Southwest" published on Facebook on Friday, Kim said, "This is the time to seriously discuss at the national level the location of the second semiconductor cluster and its power and water supply system." He added that "the outlines of the candidate sites will be unveiled at the National Report Session on June 29." He continued, "The nonsensical claim that 'there is no water in the southwest' is rampant," and said, "While it is true that large-scale industrial water supply infrastructure has not been sufficiently built in the southwest, that does not mean water resources are lacking."
As grounds for his argument, Kim cited the potential use of existing dams, agricultural water, and recycled water. He said, "The water resource pool is sufficient — it is merely scattered, including dam surplus, unused volumes that have been over-allocated for decades, large agricultural weirs and storage facilities, and recycled wastewater." He also explained, "According to plans being verified and reviewed by the Ministry of Climate and Energy, it is being assessed that securing industrial water on the scale of 1 million tons per day is possible by utilizing already-proven water resource management techniques such as raising dam heights and reallocating agricultural water."
Behind the growing controversy over water supply are the large-scale investment plans to be unveiled at the National Report Session on June 29. Kim appeared on the YouTube broadcast "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory" on Thursday and said that investment plans in three areas — semiconductors, gigawatt-class AI data centers, and physical AI and robots — would be unveiled at the National Report Session. At the time, he previewed the large-scale investment plans, saying, "The numbers that come out will be very unfamiliar."
The government and business circles are reviewing plans to build a second semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, going beyond existing semiconductor sites centered on the greater Seoul area. As semiconductor clusters require large amounts of power and water, the southwest's water supply potential is cited as a major variable in the siting debate.
Kim said, "The key is not whether there is water or not. It is a question of how to design national-level water management and infrastructure." He added, "We need to reflect on whether our own prejudices are making us claim that even the water we have does not exist."
He also stressed that the power grid and water management systems must be redesigned on a nationwide basis. Kim said, "Now is the time to draw a new grid on a nationwide basis, beyond the boundaries of ministries and administrative districts." He added, "If we redesign national infrastructure for both electricity and water on a nationwide basis, we will see many resources that we have failed to utilize." He continued, "We must build a national water management system that even reflects climate change and drought scenarios," adding, "This is the age of electricity and, at the same time, the age of water."
