As reports emerged that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are considering building a semiconductor cluster in Honam, the opposition criticized that "the government is excessively pressuring corporations." In response, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on the 26th countered that "corporations made the decision according to market principles."
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) the same day, Kim said, "Old politics is again trying to hold back the future." He added, "When corporations decide on investment according to market principles, the government supports it." He went on, "Would the decisions of global corporations, which have long judged that Yongin alone is insufficient, be swayed by government pressure?"
Kim said, "(Corporations) would have comprehensively considered land expense, power, water, and skilled personnel and, above all, deliberated on long-term stability and economic feasibility." He added, "Whether dreaming of the presidency or being from the prosecution, it is time to fix bad practices."
Kim's post appeared to take aim at remarks made the same day by independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. Han wrote on Facebook that day, "The Lee Jae-myung administration is summoning the heads of Samsung and SK in succession to use them as bullets for the Myeong–Chung (Lee Jae-myung and Jung Chung-rae) Daejeon party convention, pressuring them to build a semiconductor cluster in Honam."
Han said, "If the heads succumb to coercion and say they will do so, the government will say the corporations 'voluntarily' decided to invest." He added, "How is that different from saying corporations 'voluntarily' donated in the Mir and K-Sports Foundation case, which helped bring down the Park Geun-hye administration?"
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are reported to be set to announce plans to promote construction of a semiconductor cluster in Honam at the "Korea's Grand Leap: Three Mega Projects National Briefing" at the Blue House on the 29th. Kim Yong-beom, senior presidential secretary for policy, appeared on the YouTube show "Kim Ou-joon's Humility Is Difficult News Factory" and said, "The figure to be announced at the briefing (the corporations' investment scale) will be so large that many people will find it unfamiliar."