The selection of Gwangju Military Airport as the site for the Honam semiconductor cluster, a key pillar of the three mega projects, reflects the judgment that it is the optimal location for securing both "speed" and "scalability." The site allows 2.5 million pyeong of state-owned land to be secured at once. Because leveling has already been completed given the nature of an airport site, construction time can be cut by more than three to four years. Combined with its accessibility, companies reportedly proposed it as the optimal location even before the government did.
Kang Hoon-sik, the presidential chief of staff, said in a briefing following the public-private joint review meeting on the mega projects on Thursday, "Companies offered the view that among candidate sites in the Honam region, Gwangju Military Airport is the most suitable." He added, "It is adjacent to downtown Gwangju and a KTX station, giving it strengths in securing workers and living conditions, and its logistics accessibility linking roads, airports and ports was also assessed as excellent."
The government made clear that the project is being pursued on the premise that both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will build new fabs at Gwangju Military Airport. With the two companies located at the same site, security concerns were raised, but both companies take the position that "there will be almost no security problems." Rather, they expect that clustering of partner firms will improve supply chain efficiency.
The greatest strength of Gwangju Military Airport is its large-scale scalability. A semiconductor plant completes an industrial ecosystem only when materials, parts and equipment firms, research facilities and logistics facilities are located together, not just production facilities. While the existing Gwangju Cheomdan 3 District is difficult to guarantee such scalability, Gwangju Military Airport is assessed as having the potential to build a large-scale semiconductor industrial belt over the long term.
Above all, it is notable that companies focused on the potential of Gwangju Military Airport before the government did. A senior Presidential Office official said, "As far as I know, Samsung has been reviewing the Gwangju Military Airport site for about five years and has essentially completed its location analysis." He added, "I understand that even before the government explained the candidate sites, Samsung had highly rated the suitability of Gwangju Military Airport as its next semiconductor production hub after Yongin."
The site size is also assessed as sufficient. Samsung Electronics plans to build six fabs at the Yongin advanced system semiconductor national industrial complex (about 2.35 million pyeong), while SK hynix plans to build four fabs at the Yongin general industrial complex (about 1.26 million pyeong). The roughly 2.5 million pyeong Gwangju Military Airport site is expected to be more than adequate to accommodate new fabs from both companies.
Speed is also cited as a competitive strength of Gwangju Military Airport. Given the nature of an airport site, leveling has already been completed, which can greatly reduce the period for large-scale civil engineering work, and existing runways and infrastructure can be utilized, shortening the cluster development period. Developing an industrial complex typically takes two to three years for leveling and one to two years for land compensation. The government intends to dramatically reduce the project period by introducing a "super fast-track" that pursues environmental impact assessments, land compensation, power and water supply, and various permits and licenses simultaneously rather than sequentially.
The fact that it is state-owned land is another factor that speeds up the project. Kang stressed, "Separate from carrying out negotiated acquisition and compulsory acquisition in parallel, Gwangju Military Airport is state-owned land, so there is no land acquisition risk." The enforcement decree of the semiconductor special act, which the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy pre-announced last month, provides that companies moving into semiconductor clusters can receive reductions of 50 percent to a maximum of 100 percent on usage fees and lease fees when using state or public land.
Accessibility and industrial infrastructure were also highly rated. A senior Presidential Office official explained, "We also reviewed alternative sites such as Solaseado and Saemangeum, but we saw that their use was limited due to accessibility problems." Gwangju Military Airport is close to downtown Gwangju and a KTX station, giving it strengths in securing excellent workers and living conditions, and it also has a logistics network linking highways, airports and ports, which is assessed as reducing the burden of moving out of the greater Seoul area.
Companies expect the project to serve as a catalyst for expanding a semiconductor industry landscape centered on the greater Seoul area. One corporate official said, "Just as Taiwan built the world's largest semiconductor ecosystem by clustering more than 600 semiconductor companies at Hsinchu Science Park starting in 1980, Korea will complete an ultra-large semiconductor belt linking Yongin and Honam, following Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, Cheongju and Icheon."
However, there are no small number of challenges to overcome. To use Gwangju Military Airport as a cluster, new airport construction must come first, such as relocating the military airport to Muan, and soil purification work on the site, which has long been used as a military airport, is also a variable. Kang expressed his determination to shorten the project period, saying, "We will review various ways to vacate Gwangju Military Airport (even before the new airport is built)."
