Confusion over whether the Yongin semiconductor national industrial complex might be relocated appeared to ease after President Lee Jae Myung announced a decision to develop a Honam-region cluster, but environmental groups have renewed their opposition to the Yongin project, throwing local residents back into uncertainty. At the center of the debate is Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae, whose silence — no message ruling out a Yongin relocation — has frustrated residents and officials in the city. Choo belongs to the Democratic Party, while Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il of the People Power Party won reelection in a district where such a feat was considered nearly impossible.
Cheong Wa Dae said on July 6 that, of the three "mega projects" the government announced that day, the Honam semiconductor cluster would be built on the site of the Gwangju military airfield.
Since then, two unexpected complications have emerged.
The Samsung Group Inter-Enterprise Union's Samsung Electronics branch — the largest union at Samsung Electronics — came out firmly against the government's Honam semiconductor mega project. The union argued that its views must be incorporated into the planning process and said it would put the issue on the bargaining agenda next year, making its opposition to the Lee administration's Honam cluster push explicit.
The other complication is that speculation about relocating the Yongin cluster has circulated since last year, yet President Lee has never clearly stated whether a move would or would not happen, leaving the situation unresolved. Semiconductors have, in fact, become a perennial campaign issue in Gyeonggi Province governor races, including in Yongin.
Then things came to a head.
A forum titled "Reasons the Yongin Semiconductor National Industrial Complex Should Be Reconsidered" was abruptly held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly's main conference room, organized by the Gyeonggi Environmental Movement Alliance.
The event drew an incredulous reaction from Mayor Lee and Yongin residents, who had fought hard against any relocation and celebrated his reelection as a mandate to keep the complex in place. Their worry now is that a matter they considered settled is being reignited.
Earlier, Mayor Lee wrote on social media: "The current government, which had all but stood by as controversy and confusion swirled over the national industrial complex decision made under the previous administration, has finally concluded that the project will proceed as planned."
He added: "Samsung Electronics has also firmly committed to building the six semiconductor fabrication lines — the fabs — planned for the Yongin national industrial complex, even as it makes large new investments in Honam and other regions."
The Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex project received judicial backing in January, when the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that its procedures were legally sound.
Mayor Lee also said: "I hear that people who want to stir up trouble again over the Yongin national industrial complex — even now that all the controversy and confusion has been so cleanly resolved — are gathering at the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly on Wednesday. Reasonable citizens will not stand for it." On Monday, Samsung Electronics separately announced it would move up construction of its Yongin semiconductor fab by one to two years.
Yet since Wednesday, no message has come from Governor Choo ruling out a relocation of the semiconductor industrial complex to another site.
Choo's social media posts since taking office have focused on monsoon flood damage, but when the Jang Yun-gi case broke, she quickly posted that "the Jang Yun-gi case cannot be used as an excuse to delay prosecution reform." While she is free to weigh in on any issue as a potential future presidential contender, the contrast is striking: she responded immediately on prosecution reform but has offered no clear position on the renewed push against the Yongin semiconductor complex. President Lee behaved similarly, and former Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon only posted on Facebook after public anger had already peaked.
A Facebook post Choo made on July 2, shortly after taking office, did mention semiconductors: "The semiconductor cluster must be driven forward collectively — without silos — by the departments responsible for power, water, industrial sites and infrastructure, centered on the governor's own 'Ultra-Gap Semiconductor Strategy Committee.' I have ordered the establishment of a real-time reporting system and a push for speed to protect South Korea's semiconductor lead." But that statement was buried within a broader outline of her provincial administration's policy direction. Critics say this is not much different from the fence-sitting approach of former Governor Kim Dong-yeon. 'Watching which way the wind blows' is how some describe it. In Yongin, people have even started calling Choo 'Kim Dong-yeon Season 2.'
Yongin residents have spent considerable energy fighting to keep the semiconductor cluster from being moved.
"All Governor Choo needs to do is make one thing crystal clear — but that one decisive statement hasn't come," residents said, voicing their frustration.
That statement, they say, is simple: "The Yongin semiconductor cluster will never leave Yongin."
Even while busy dealing with monsoon flooding, Choo was quick to speak out when the Jang Yun-gi case sparked debate over supplementary investigative powers. Yet when it comes to the movement to undermine the Yongin semiconductor cluster, no clear, definitive position has emerged. What is needed now is not, as Choo has put it, a stage of "taking responsibility and pushing forward" — it is telling residents of Gyeonggi Province and Yongin exactly what is being pushed forward and where.
fob140@heraldcorp.com
