Lee pledges full government support for Honam semiconductor cluster investment

President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday again expressed gratitude for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix's planned 800 trillion won ($519 billion) investment in a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, pledging that "the South Korean government will actively provide its full backing."

Lee made the remarks while chairing a combined Cabinet meeting and emergency economic review session at Cheong Wa Dae, urging broad political cooperation. "I ask that you join forces with the companies that have stepped up to the challenge and with the government's efforts," he said.

The comments were aimed at calling on the opposition to refrain from political attacks after some opposition figures claimed the government was coercing companies into making the investment.

Addressing concerns that the concentration of investment in Honam could fuel a sense of relative deprivation in the Yeongnam region, Lee noted that Yeongnam has a population of 13 million compared with Honam's 5 million. "It is an undeniable fact that there has been discrimination between Yeongnam and Honam," he said. "Honam has long suffered from exclusion and discrimination, and this is now an opportunity to turn that hardship into a blessing."

On worries about shortages of electricity and water, Lee said the region's long exclusion from development had in fact left its water, power and land resources well managed and stable.

He acknowledged that "it is true that the investment in the Honam region is somewhat large," but urged everyone to understand that "compared with the historically accumulated level of investment, this is truly just a drop in the bucket."

Lee also expressed appreciation to Prime Minister Kim Min-seok for his service, as Kim is expected to soon step down from the post to run for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Kim responded by referencing the previous day's public briefing on three major mega-projects. "Twenty years from now marks the 100th anniversary of liberation, and I am certain that an era is opening in which South Korea can lead the world for the first time in its 5,000-year history," he said. He added that he knew well that the president shared that dream and conviction.

Lee also floated a surprise idea to stimulate private consumption at the meeting.

Noting that private consumption had shown signs of recovery in the first quarter, Lee said further measures were needed to accelerate the trend. He directed relevant ministries to explore converting card reward points accumulated through credit card payments or membership sign-ups into local currency vouchers.

He also asked ministries to "actively review ways to put dormant points to use."

Meanwhile, the government and the companies were set to hold an investment briefing on advanced industries in the southwestern region in Gwangju on Tuesday afternoon.

The briefing was expected to reveal the specific locations and construction schedules for the Honam semiconductor fabrication plants announced by Samsung Electronics and SK Group at the previous day's mega-project public briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan said Monday that the plan calls for investing 800 trillion won to build four semiconductor fabrication plants at a second semiconductor production base in the southwestern region.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong said the company was planning Gwangju — formally the proposed Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special city — as its candidate site, citing expectations of strong infrastructure incentives there, including power, water and workforce availability.

Cheong Wa Dae Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik also told reporters at the press briefing room Monday that a series of regional public briefings was scheduled to begin Tuesday in the Honam, Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions, with companies set to announce investments specific to each area. "There has never been a case since the founding of the nation where investments of this scale were announced in a relay like this," he said.