The government is reviewing a plan to change Dongbok Dam, owned by Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City, to state ownership to supply water for the Honam-region semiconductor cluster.
According to the government on the 9th, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment recently conveyed to Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City a plan to convert Dongbok Dam into a state-owned multi-purpose dam and is holding consultations.
Dongbok Dam, located in Iseo-myeon, Hwasun County, is a water-supply reservoir dam that provides tap water to Gwangju and the Hwasun area.
The core of the ministry's plan is to transfer the dam to state ownership and then expedite a height-raising project to increase storage capacity. The ministry earlier said it would supply a total of 300,000 tons of water for the semiconductor cluster by adding 250,000 tons to the existing 50,000 tons of spare water at Dongbok Dam through the height increase.
The ministry believes that if the dam remains under metropolitan ownership, state funding, environmental impact assessments, and other administrative procedures would take time and could delay the height-raising work. Converting it to state ownership could shorten the project timeline—typically 10 years—by more than six years, making it possible to supply water in 2030, when the semiconductor plant is scheduled to begin operations.