Yang Hyang-ja, the People Power Party candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor, pledged on Tuesday to "make Gyeonggi Province a global semiconductor hub," announcing industrial policy pledges centered on building a "K-Semiconductor Mega Cluster" and reforming chip industry regulations.
Visiting Samsung Electronics' Giheung campus, her former workplace, Yang said, "Giheung is where Korea's semiconductor legend began and the city of miracles that made the country the world's No. 1 semiconductor power." She added, "As a semiconductor professional, I will become Gyeonggi governor and build overwhelming competitiveness for Korea's future industries."
Yang highlighted her expertise as a field-experienced professional, noting that she joined Samsung Electronics as a research assistant and rose to the rank of executive.
"Since first encountering semiconductors at 18, I have been fascinated by the fact that the world's future lies within a chip the size of a fingernail," she said. "Giheung is the historic site that served as the foundation for Korean semiconductors to surpass Japan and overtake the United States."
Yang first unveiled her plan to build a "K-Semiconductor Mega Cluster" centered on Giheung. The plan envisions creating a "Semiconductor Special City" by drastically shortening permit procedures that hinder chip plant expansions and industrial infrastructure development, while easing regulations.
"The global semiconductor market is a race of speed," she said. "I will mobilize all of Gyeonggi Province's administrative capacity to make Giheung the fastest-moving semiconductor industry hub in the world."
She also presented corporate support measures to respond to the global semiconductor hegemony competition. "With countries around the world engaged in a subsidy race, we must ensure our companies can focus on research and development without financial burden," Yang said, pledging to strengthen the policy financing support system.
In particular, she announced plans to expand support for promising fabless companies, semiconductor startups, and materials, parts and equipment firms, while building a talent development system linking companies, universities and research institutions. She explained this would create a foundation for world-class semiconductor talent to grow in Gyeonggi Province.
Yang also presented a plan to improve living conditions. "The core of semiconductor industry competitiveness is ultimately people," she said, pledging to build a "Semiconductor Smart City" by expanding transportation networks in Giheung and nearby areas and creating a mixed residential and cultural complex.
"I will build a Giheung that resembles Taiwan's TSMC but surpasses it," she added. "I will create an advanced industrial city that global talent seeks out on their own."
Yang pledged, "Unlike politics that turns away from the importance of the semiconductor industry, I will pursue semiconductor-first administration." She added, "I will remove outdated regulations and actively support the development of cutting-edge technologies to create future growth engines for Gyeonggi Province and Korea."
