People Power Party Gyeonggi governor candidate Yang Hyang-ja said in an interview at the People Power Party Gyeonggi Provincial Party office in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on the 14th that this Gyeonggi governor election is a vote to choose a leader who will drive an "advanced provincial administration." It was a day when "semiconductors" dominated the news after the Samsung Electronics union declared a strike and the presidential policy chief's excess-profit national dividend proposal sparked controversy.
Yang said, "The province's administration over the next four years will be more advanced than you can imagine," adding, "If you don't even know the 'semi' in semiconductor, you can't lead Gyeonggi." Yang is a politician from the business world who joined Samsung Electronics as a high school graduate female employee and rose to executive director. Yang said, "We need someone who can build an industrial ecosystem and create jobs," and added, "While serving as Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair, banging the gavel without communication is a conflict-inducing style of leadership that Gyeonggi does not need."
Yang pledged that if elected governor, Yang would lift various regulations in northern Gyeonggi and attract industrial clusters. Yang also said a dedicated expressway would be built to link industrial complexes across Gyeonggi without going through Seoul and would be named the "semiconductor expressway." The plan is to solidify a Gyeonggi-centered semiconductor belt.
-Why should Yang Hyang-ja, not Choo Mi-ae, become Gyeonggi governor?
"Looking at candidate Choo Mi-ae's work as Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair, there is no agreement or communication. There is no respect for the opposition party. It is a conflict-inducing drive that just keeps pounding the gavel. By contrast, I have the drive to resolve conflicts.
Semiconductors also matter. I contributed to Samsung's world-dominating semiconductor development. In Gyeonggi now, if you don't even know the 'semi' in semiconductor, you can't lead Gyeonggi. The province's administration over the next four years will be advanced beyond imagination. I have experience persuading both parties to craft future industry and advanced industry bills. What Gyeonggi needs now is someone who builds an industrial ecosystem and creates jobs. Through this, I will open an era in which provincial residents earn 100 million won a year."
-The transfer of the semiconductor cluster to Saemangeum was an issue.
"It plainly revealed the Democratic Party's attitude of treating industry carelessly to chase votes. The Yongin industrial complex was designated as a national industrial complex under the law. If this does not proceed properly, we cannot defend our semiconductor supremacy. Saemangeum should attract and foster new industries suited to the region. Talking irresponsibly about taking over a national industrial complex project is an arrogant act."
-Do you have pledges to grow Gyeonggi's semiconductor industry?
"Building a 'semiconductor expressway.' It is similar to Taiwan's 'S-semiconductor corridor' transportation system. It is a dedicated expressway linking industrial complexes across Gyeonggi without going through Seoul. Taiwan has established a vast semiconductor belt that starts in Hsinchu in the north, passes through Taichung in the center, and extends to Kaohsiung and Tainan in the south. It created industry-only transport systems and roads to connect the semiconductor belt directly without going through the capital, Taipei."
-What are your plans for developing northern Gyeonggi?
"I visited the northern region yesterday as well. Eighty percent of Gyeonggi's economy is concentrated in the south. I have separate plans for the northeast, the southwest, and the north. The north is a blue ocean. We must actively attract corporations. Right now the north is burdened with all kinds of regulations. Northern residents are angry, saying "only we sacrifice." While building industrial clusters, we need to lift surrounding regulations and create communities. It is a "regulation-free industrial complex." Gangwon-do attracted a system semiconductor demonstration center and a future vehicle test bed; we should benchmark this. We need to connect it with the defense industry and content sectors."
-What kind of politician do you want to be?
"I want to build a country where the people live well and no one can treat us carelessly. A nation of science and technology supremacy that tightly builds an industrial ecosystem based on semiconductors. My goal is to succeed on these two agendas and become a politician who creates jobs that allow people to work into old age."
☞Who is Yang Hyang-ja
Born in Hwasun, South Jeolla, Yang graduated from Gwangju Girls' Commercial High School and joined Samsung Electronics' Giheung Research Center in 1985. Starting as a research assistant in the Semiconductor Memory Design Office, Yang served as lead researcher on the SRAM design team, principal researcher on the DRAM design team, and principal researcher on the flash design team, and rose to executive director of the memory division's flash development team. Yang entered politics in 2016 by joining the Democratic Party of Korea and served as a supreme council member. In the 21st general election, Yang defeated six-term candidate Chun Jung-bae and was elected. After leaving the Democratic Party, Yang founded Korea's Hope and merged with the Reform Party. In 2025, Yang left the Reform Party, joined the People Power Party, and entered the supreme council.