N. Gyeongsang council says semiconductor investment must follow industry logic, not politics

The North Gyeongsang Provincial Council has voiced deep concern over the government's plan to establish a second semiconductor cluster in the Gwangju-South Jeolla Province region.

The council released a statement on Friday saying that while balanced national development is an imperative of the times, "it must not become a pretext for confining industrial policy to political logic."

The council went on to say that "semiconductor investment is a century-defining undertaking that must be decided only after thoroughly reviewing site conditions — including workforce, power, water, research and development capacity, and supply chain." It put forward Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province as the optimal location for the semiconductor industry.

The council said Gumi already has a fully formed cooperative ecosystem ready to generate synergies the moment a full-process fab moves in, citing the dense concentration of materials, parts and equipment companies — including SK Siltron — already clustered there.

It added that unlike other regions where infrastructure would have to be built from scratch, North Gyeongsang Province has a power self-sufficiency rate of 228 percent — the highest in the country — giving it ample surplus electricity to support large-scale fab operation.

On top of that, the council said, the province has a stable industrial water supply system based on the Nakdong River watershed. "Leveraging an already proven industrial ecosystem would dramatically cut the costs and time that would otherwise be required," it said.