Over plans to create the Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex in Idong and Namsa-eup (Samsung Electronics) and the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Wonsam-myeon (SK hynix), Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il has been issuing systematic rebuttals day after day to calls from some in politics for a "regional transfer," launching an all-out "defense of the fortress." Lee said, "Semiconductors are a race against time, and we are already at a point of no return," making it clear that transfer to another region is not possible.
According to Yongin City and others on the 12th, Lee held two press conferences on Dec. 31 last year and Jan. 9 this year, saying, "Saying we should move the Yongin semiconductor industrial complex to another region is arguing to pull the semiconductor industry, where global competition is fierce, out of the race," and, "That is no different from ruining semiconductors and ruining the nation's future." Lee also said, "Shaking the nation's strongest flagship industry with political logic is never reasonable."
◇ Four-hour press conference, "defend 'cheonjo-gaebyeok'" on social media
Lee held the two press conferences in a "showdown debate" format, continuing until there were no more questions. The two sessions totaled more than four hours. Lee is also explaining on Facebook and other social media why the semiconductor cluster must be located in Yongin.
Three mega semiconductor projects are underway simultaneously in Yongin. They are the Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex in Idong and Namsa-eup, the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster General Industrial Complex in Wonsam-myeon, and the Samsung Electronics Future Research Complex (Giheung campus). The total planned investment for these projects reaches 980 trillion won.
A total of 360 trillion won will be invested in the national industrial complex in Idong and Namsa-eup, 600 trillion won in the general industrial complex in Wonsam-myeon, and 20 trillion won in the Giheung Future Research Complex. The industry also notes the investment could top 1,000 trillion won. A new term has even emerged for the Yongin semiconductor project: "cheonjo-gaebyeok (千兆開闢)."
Lee said, "In Yongin, under the recognition that 'semiconductors are a race against time,' we have mobilized all administrative capabilities to push the project," adding, "Shaking the project now is realistically impossible."
◇ Yongin semiconductor cluster began with corporations' proposal
The Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex in Idong and Namsa-eup was selected based on proposals from Yongin City and the relevant corporations. This differentiates it from existing national industrial complexes created under central government leadership. In a follow-up briefing to the 14th Emergency Economic and Public Livelihood Meeting on Mar. 15, 2023, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "Candidate sites for new national industrial complexes were proposed in connection with specialized projects in each region, and in the case of semiconductors, corporations proposed them to urgently respond to global competition."
Lee said, "Since Oct. 2022, we have discussed the creation of the national industrial complex with Samsung Electronics and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and concluded that Yongin is the optimal site considering semiconductor industry competitiveness and the nation's future," adding, "That resulted in the Mar. 2023 announcement designating the national industrial complex." The day after the national industrial complex designation was announced, the Yongin City government workers' union issued a statement titled "Mayor Lee Sang-il, you did a great job," evaluating that it "laid a major foundation for Yongin's development."
Four months after the national industrial complex designation announcement, in July 2023 the government designated the Idong and Namsa-eup national industrial complex, the Wonsam-myeon Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, and the Giheung Future Research Complex as semiconductor specialized complexes. With the specialized complex designation, the floor area ratios of the relevant complexes were raised. On this basis, SK hynix expanded its investment in the Wonsam-myeon cluster to 600 trillion won. Samsung Electronics is also pursuing multi-story fabs at the Idong and Namsa-eup national industrial complex, and investment expansion is expected.
◇ Semiconductor cluster nailed down through a race against time
Follow-up procedures for the Yongin semiconductor cluster proceeded very quickly. Through exemptions from preliminary feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments, and various permit fast tracks, procedures that normally take about four years and six months were completed in one year and nine months. In Dec. 2024, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "We have pushed the project forward with speed, selecting LH as the project executor and signing preemptive agreements with tenant corporations." Yongin City also shortened nine permit periods, including farmland conversion permits and mountain area conversion permits, in consultation with the central government.
With the speed campaign by Yongin City and the central government, on Dec. 31, 2024, the government approved the industrial complex plan for the Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex. In December last year, Samsung Electronics and LH signed a land sale contract for industrial facility sites, and land loss compensation talks began in earnest. The industry assesses that "the signing of the sale contract and the start of compensation makes clear Samsung Electronics' intent to build a semiconductor cluster in Yongin."
On this, Lee said, "If government approval had been delayed, we could not have ruled out the possibility that the project itself would be scrapped or snatched by another region," adding, "In that case, not only the semiconductor industry but also the national economy and Yongin's future would inevitably have suffered fatal damage."
He continued, "Early government approval became 'The Divine Move' for Yongin and for the Republic of Korea," adding, "With several big nails already driven in, the Yongin semiconductor project is a national endeavor that can no longer be shaken."
He added, "With government approval of the industrial complex plan, designation as a national high-tech strategic industry specialized complex, the start of compensation procedures, and the signing of a sale contract for industrial facility sites already in place, it is irresponsible to discuss transfer based solely on the assertions of some local politicians," and, "Leaving Yongin, which has been designated a specialized complex, to move the semiconductor cluster to an area that is not a specialized complex is not reasonable at all from the corporations' perspective."
◇ Mayor Lee: "To build the industrial complex, a pan-government meeting is needed"
Mayor Lee Sang-il is recently urging the Lee Jae-myung administration to hold a "pan-government meeting to review plans to create national industrial complexes." He is calling for a proper review of the status of national industrial complex projects being pursued at 15 locations nationwide.
At a recent press conference, Lee said, "The previous administration held seven joint meetings of relevant ministries for the 'Pan-Government Task Force to Promote National Industrial Complexes' to review the status of national industrial complex creation and to hear local opinions, but the current administration, while saying it will revive the national economy, has not held even a single task force meeting to look after the 15 national industrial complexes," adding, "The central government should not say one thing and do another."
On Mar. 15, 2023, in addition to the Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex in Yongin, the government designated 15 candidate sites nationwide, including the Wanju hydrogen-specialized national industrial complex in North Jeolla (1.65 million square meters), the Iksan National Food Cluster national industrial complex (2.07 million square meters), the Goheung excellent launch vehicle national industrial complex in South Jeolla (1.73 million square meters), and Gwangju's future automobile national industrial complex (3.38 million square meters). However, aside from the Yongin national industrial complex creation project, not a single place has received government approval.