People Power Party candidate Lee Jeong-hyeon, running for mayor of the proposed South Jeolla Province-Gwangju integrated special city in the local elections, said Sunday that while scrutiny of the Honam semiconductor project is warranted, it should not chill the initiative before it gets off the ground. "We must now cheer on Honam's growth together," he said.
"PPP figures have raised concerns and cautious views about feasibility, announcement procedures, the official positions of companies involved, and regional equity — and I, too, believe scrutiny is absolutely necessary," Lee said. "However, that scrutiny must not become a force that suppresses the very start of the project."
Lee argued that for roughly 60 years since industrialization and nearly 40 years since democratization, large-scale private investment in South Korea has been concentrated in the Greater Seoul area, the Chungcheong region and the Yeongnam region. "The question Korean politics should be asking is not 'why Honam?' What the political world should be doing is not stoking suspicion but creating the conditions for investment," he said.
"Honam has waited long enough — 60 years," he added, calling on conservatives to lead the way. "I ask that conservatives be the first to welcome corporate investment in Honam, the first to support jobs for Honam's youth, and the first to help build Honam's industrialization together."
"That is the path to making South Korea one, and it is also the path for conservatives to be recognized again as a truly national party," he added. "Choose the nation over the region, and choose success over opposition."
sij@heraldcorp.com
