The first hearing in the appellate trial of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups to cancel the "Yongin advanced system semiconductor cluster national industrial complex plan" was held on the 20th. Activists belonging to the environmental groups have traversed the country since last month opposing the construction of transmission lines, and on this day they also held protests in front of the Samsung Electronics office building and the Blue House.
The Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 9-3 (High Court Judges Kim Hyeong-bae, Hong Ji-yeong, and Kim Dong-wan) on this day held the first hearing date in the appeal of a lawsuit filed by 16 people, including an activist surnamed Kim from the environmental group Solutions for Our Climate, against the Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, seeking to cancel the disposition approving the Yongin advanced system semiconductor cluster national industrial complex plan.
The Yongin semiconductor industrial complex is a project to create a national industrial complex specializing in system semiconductors on a 7.77 million-square-meter site in Namsa-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi. It was announced in Mar. 2023 under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) received approval for the industrial complex plan from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) in Dec. 2024. Samsung Electronics, which will move into the complex, announced a plan to invest 360 trillion won to build six semiconductor fabs.
Earlier, Solutions for Our Climate and others filed a lawsuit in Mar. last year, arguing that it was unlawful for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) to approve the Yongin semiconductor industrial complex (cluster) project. They cited problems with the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction plans as stipulated by the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality.
The first trial in Jan. ruled against the plaintiffs. The first-instance court found, "Even if there are somewhat insufficient parts in the climate change impact assessment, it is difficult to evaluate that the degree of insufficiency is such that it is no different from not conducting a climate change impact assessment." It added, "The discretionary judgment of an administrative agency on requirements that require predictions about uncertain future circumstances and ripple effects should be respected broadly."
The environmental groups appealed. They said, "Former President Yoon Suk-yeol announced the industrial complex in Mar. 2023, and the plan approval disposition was made in Dec. 2024, but before the Mar. 2023 announcement there was no review of the ease of securing infrastructure such as water and power supply, which are requirements for designating an industrial complex," adding, "After that, countermeasures were cobbled together, but they still do not meet the ease-of-securement standards."
The defendant, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "As for the part (raised as grounds for appeal by the plaintiffs) that reviews of water and power volumes were not conducted, we submitted materials reviewed when (the government) formulated the plan."
Ahead of the first appellate hearing, about 80 members of the "National Action for Reconsideration of the Yongin Semiconductor National Industrial Complex and Opposition to the Construction of Extra-high-voltage Transmission Towers" (hereafter National Action), a coalition of about 100 environmental groups nationwide, gathered in front of the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, at around 9:30 a.m. on this day.
They delivered to the Seoul High Court a petition signed by 10,000 citizens opposing the Yongin semiconductor industrial complex project. They then marched about 1.5 kilometers past Gangnam Station to the Samsung Electronics Seocho office building and held a press conference at around 10:30 a.m..
Song Seong-yeong, standing representative of the Gyeonggi Civil Society Organizations Association, said, "For Samsung's semiconductor business, someone has to give up water, produce electricity, accept transmission towers, and give up their livelihoods," adding, "Samsung Electronics earns enormous profits, but it must not pass the environmental and social expense arising in the process onto local residents and the public."
Members of National Action held placards opposing the reconsideration of the Yongin semiconductor industrial complex and the construction of transmission towers, departed Haenam on the 30th of last month, and arrived in Yongin the day before. They then assembled in front of the Seoul High Court on this day.
National Action was launched at the National Assembly in Dec. last year ahead of the first-instance ruling. The aim was "to disperse power demand concentrated in the capital area and achieve an energy transition." Co-hosts of the launch ceremony included then-Democratic Party lawmaker Min Hyung-bae, who is now the mayor of the integrated special city of Jeonnam-Gwangju, and Democratic Party lawmakers from Honam constituencies such as Park Hee-seung, Seo Sam-seok, Ahn Ho-young, Yoon Joon-byung, and Lee Won-taeg.