President Lee Jae Myung is set to unveil a blockbuster project for South Korea's balanced economic growth at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Monday, where Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to announce their bids to build new plants outside the capital region.
According to Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday, the two memory chipmakers, currently riding a global artificial intelligence boom, will announce their investment plans, followed by the government's presentation on the policy for "megaprojects," at Cheong Wa Dae at 2 p.m. Monday.
Ahead of the announcement, which would involve hundreds of trillions of won in private-sector investment, Lee noted in a series of X posts starting Saturday that South Jeolla Province in the country's southwest would be an optimal site for the new chip plant.
One of his posts sought to explain how that the country's underdeveloped southwest could be a major benefit to the semiconductor industry, which is experiencing overcrowding in the chip clusters in Greater Seoul.
"For the semiconductor industry, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power are crucial, especially with the advent of RE100 (regulations), in addition to water and electricity," Lee said on Saturday.
"However, the Greater Seoul area is already saturated, and the country's southwestern coast is where renewable energy is the most abundant. The underdeveloped southwest is the best, given its earthquake-free status and low cost of land."
So far, Samsung and SK's chip plants in South Korea have concentrated in Gyeonggi Province — Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek for Samsung and Icheon for SK, as well as the megachip cluster under construction in Yongin.
In another X post on Sunday, Lee said there should be no place for political framing to his suggestion of the country's southwest as a viable location. Regionalism has long been a factor in Korean politics, especially between the country's left-leaning southwest and right-leaning southeast.
"Debates about the location of semiconductor facilities in the southwest would be encouraged ... but I would ask (people) to refrain from inciting regional conflict for political purposes," Lee said via X on Sunday.
"Establishing a semiconductor industry ecosystem in the southwest is not a special favor."
Another X post by Lee refuted claims that the southwestern region lacks clean water for chipmaking. Lee said Saturday that water resources had been neglected for decades for "a political purpose," adding that up to 1 million metric tons of water would be available per day if proper infrastructure is built in the region.
Some of his X posts targeted right-wing opposition parties that have criticized the government for unilaterally pushing ahead with the plan without contemplation.
In the latest such criticism, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party warned on Saturday that he would file a criminal complaint against the administration for abuse of power as soon as the chip investment plan is announced Monday. He claimed the administration was extorting chipmakers by forcing them to spend money in a specific region.
In response, Lee denied pressuring the companies, stressing it would be the private-sector companies' independent decision.
"This is not referred to as an abuse of power or coercive directives, but rather as administrative guidance or facilitative administration," Lee wrote on X.
On Sunday, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan echoed Lee's stance by saying that whatever the private-sector companies announce would be based on their independent beliefs.
"(Chipmaking) companies have long believed that the Yongin cluster alone is insufficient to adequately meet future global demand and engage in global competition. To secure additional production bases, (these companies) have been reviewing new candidate sites capable of providing large sites and stable power and water supplies," Kim said
"Given the high land costs and limited infrastructure conditions in the Greater Seoul area, provincial regions emerged as a realistic alternative."
Meanwhile Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig, floor leader of the People Power Party, said on his Facebook page that the liberal administration was "strategically exploiting" the chip investment plan for its own advantage, as the ruling party is suffering an internal power struggle ahead of the convention in August.
Amid speculations from People Power Party lawmakers that the liberal administration is creating an environment where Prime Minister Kim Min-seok could have an upper edge in the national convention, Lee said on X on Saturday, "People often assume that others think and act just as they do."
Now eyes are on whether the looming announcement could lend momentum for a rebound in the liberal president's approval rating that has recently been on a decline. According to Gallup Korea's opinion poll Friday, Lee's approval rating came to an all-time low of 51 percent.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
