President Lee Jae-myung on Sunday rebutted opposition criticism head-on, saying that "building a semiconductor industry ecosystem in the Honam region is not a privilege for a specific region."
Lee made the remarks through his X (formerly Twitter) account, saying it amounts to "additionally creating the most rational semiconductor industry hub through the decision of relevant companies amid sweeping government support." Lee stressed that "during the Park Chung-hee administration, the strategy of selection and concentration centered on the Seoul metropolitan area and the Yeongnam region produced industrialization achievements that astonished the world, but on the other hand created a massive side effect of extreme concentration in the metropolitan area." He emphasized that "the resulting regional decline has become an urgent task that threatens national survival beyond a simple matter of balanced development, and balanced development has now become a core survival strategy for the Republic of Korea."
He continued, "We must break the chain of discrimination and marginalization not only in terms of justice and fairness but also in terms of sustained inclusive growth," adding that "the southwest coast lies at the center of that answer. Because the southwest coast was long marginalized in development, it paradoxically retains vast and stable available land where high-tech plants such as semiconductor facilities can be built."
Lee said, "The southwest coast is cited as a world-class optimal location for cutting-edge future industries that consume large amounts of electricity, such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence data centers (AIDC), as it possesses not only water resources but also abundant renewable energy potential to meet RE100, a key topic in the global market." He said, "If the government boldly and sufficiently supports settlement conditions and infrastructure such as roads, water, power, manpower, culture, education, and housing, Honam will become a world-class semiconductor production hub city."
He continued, "While the existing semiconductor cluster construction plan in the metropolitan area, where water and power have reached their limits, should be moved up and pushed forward quickly, at the same time a second large-scale agglomeration complex must be created at ultra-high speed," saying it is "a golden opportunity to turn misfortune into a blessing and bring about a sea change."
Lee described the creation of the Honam semiconductor cluster as "achieving balanced national development and practicing the national cause of easing deep-rooted regional discrimination and Yeongnam-Honam conflict." He urged, "Please debate fiercely, but halt the wasteful political struggle that fuels regional conflict and regionalism for political purposes." He added, "It is time for everyone to cooperate from a broad perspective and gather wisdom for the national survival goal of easing metropolitan concentration and achieving balanced national development."
