Kim Yong-beom, the Blue House policy chief, said on the 28th, "A large-scale semiconductor fab cluster outside the capital area can be a very powerful national strategy." After President Lee Jae-myung launched a public campaign on social media regarding semiconductor investment in the Honam region, aides also appeared to respond in turn.

Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy at the Blue House, delivers his opening remarks at a Kwanhun Club invited forum at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 24th./Courtesy of News1

Deputy Minister Kim said on Facebook that day, "What Korea must debate most intensely right now is the question of how the people will make a living going forward," and stated accordingly.

Deputy Minister Kim said, "Semiconductors are no longer an issue for a particular industry, but a core variable of the era that ties together the economy and security, education and youth, the capital area and the provinces, finance and real estate," adding, "It is difficult with a conventional approach; we need an extraordinary strategy at the national level. We should boldly build more fabs."

He continued, "In that vein, a large-scale semiconductor fab cluster outside the capital area can be a very powerful national strategy," and described it as "a macroeconomic policy that directs the excess liquidity from the semiconductor boom not into real estate but into factories, power grids, water infrastructure, research facilities, the equipment industry, and new cities."

Deputy Minister Kim also said, "We cannot explain what is unfolding before us with the ideologies and political frames of the past," adding, "Our public sphere is still clinging to the past. Ideological debates, value debates, endless political strife."

He went on, "If we are hobbled by fruitless debates and endless procedures, we could miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," adding, "Value debates do not make life more prosperous. Solving the people's livelihoods is the reason politics and policy exist."

Deputy Minister Kim also posted twice on Facebook the previous day to present his views on large-scale semiconductor investment in the Honam region. The government is expected to announce plans related to creating a semiconductor cluster on the 29th.

※ This article has been translated by AI. Share your feedback here.