President Lee Jae-myung will preside over the "Three Megaprojects National Briefing" on Monday, presenting policies to foster industries with insurmountable technological gaps. Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Chairman Tae-won Choi will attend and personally announce investment plans, with observations suggesting the companies' combined investment in semiconductor fabs in the southwestern region alone could reach 900 trillion won.
Presidential Senior Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Sunday that the "Korea Great Leap Three Megaprojects National Briefing" will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, presided over by President Lee. After Lee outlines the general vision for the three megaprojects in his opening remarks, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will announce specific policies.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan will announce a southern region innovation belt strategy centered on Gwangju and Busan. Deputy Prime Minister and Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon is expected to explain plans to build a triangular-axis robotics cluster connecting Saemangeum (manufacturing and parts cluster), Daegu-North Gyeongsang (certification and demonstration), and the Seoul metropolitan area (industry-academia hub), as well as plans to build physical AI infrastructure. Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan is expected to announce measures for the power and water supply needed to advance the megaprojects.
"Samsung-nix" Investment Plans to Be Unveiled; Some Predict 1,000 Trillion Won
Samsung Electronics and SK will then disclose group-level large-scale investment plans. Forecasts suggest the investment amount could approach a total of 1,000 trillion won over 10 years, on a scale spanning the Honam semiconductor cluster as well as the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions.
First, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will unveil a southwest semiconductor cluster plan to build four to six semiconductor front-end fabs in Gwangju. The investment amount was found to be 700 trillion to 900 trillion won, depending on the situation of fab expansion. The semiconductor fabs are reportedly likely to be located on the site of the Gwangju military airport.
The SK Group is expected to announce a 1,000 trillion won investment plan, including the construction of the Gwangju semiconductor fab, semiconductor investment in the Chungcheong region, and the building of three to five AI data centers nationwide. Samsung Electronics' investment in the Yongin semiconductor cluster is expected to run longer than SK's, so its investment scale in the southwestern region will be smaller, according to reports. Earlier, in the process of coordinating investment plans, President Lee met with Chairman Choi at the presidential office on the 19th and with Chairman Lee on the 25th.
The government also stated that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have decided to move up the completion of the Yongin semiconductor cluster by 7 to 12 years from the original plan. Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Facebook Sunday that "Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will move up the Yongin semiconductor cluster by 7 years and 12 years respectively, significantly ahead of the original plan, and begin early production." This followed Presidential Policy Office Chief Kim Yong-beom's statement that "SK hynix will move up its completion date by more than 10 years," presenting a concrete timetable.
"Abuse of Authority" vs. "Administrative Guidance": Honam Semiconductor Dispute Heats Up
Meanwhile, the political dispute over the Honam semiconductor cluster, where Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will focus their investments, is gradually heating up. As the opposition launched attacks claiming the government twisted companies' arms to force investment, President Lee poured out a series of social media posts over the weekend, rebutting point by point.
President Lee posted seven entries on X (formerly Twitter) over the two days of the 27th and 28th, directly responding to the opposition's criticism of the Honam semiconductor investment. He first rebutted the most controversial "abuse of authority" claim on two occasions. President Lee said, "Based on the creation of a business environment and the persuasion and requests of public officials, the CEOs made the decision judging it would benefit their companies." He then snapped, "This is not called abuse of authority or coercive instruction, but administrative guidance or facilitative administration." Rather, he said, "The historic achievement of attracting unprecedented ultra-large-scale regional investment deserves praise."
Also, when independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon asked, "How is this different from companies in the Mir and K-Sports Foundation case—which played a part in bringing down the Park Geun-hye government—saying they donated 'voluntarily'?" President Lee responded, "A Buddha sees only Buddhas, and a pig sees only pigs."
As the appropriateness of the Honam location, where semiconductor investment has been decided, also became controversial, President Lee shared a report stating that South Jeolla and Gwangju received the "highest score" in the 2023 semiconductor specialized complex competition. He added, "This was already officially confirmed by the National Assembly and the government during former President Yoon Suk-yeol's term, so at the very least, People Power Party lawmakers should refrain from strange remarks."
