Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon voiced concern over President Lee Jae-myung's push for semiconductor corporations to invest in Honam.
On the 28th, Oh said on his Facebook page, "As controversy grew over Honam investments by semiconductor corporations led by the government, the president said it was due to the government's 'administrative guidance' and 'persuasion,'" adding, "The market and the public are deeply concerned about rhetoric that applies virtually irresistible pressure and then shifts responsibility by saying 'the corporations made the choice.'"
He said, "Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are top-tier corporations that wage fierce number games on the global stage, calculating down to the decimal," adding, "It's like a politician at an amateur Go level putting on an armband called administrative guidance to kibitz and take credit with a pro 9-dan in Go."
Oh pointed out, "The moment a power holding life-or-death authority through permits and regulations sets a direction and applies pressure, that is not persuasion but an irresistible 'coercion' and 'policy intimidation.'"
He continued, "If this keeps happening, Korea will be branded in the global market as a 'country that operates on political logic, not market logic,'" adding, "The government should not be an entity that guides corporations, but one that tweaks institutions and designs systems so corporations can become the world's best."