Min Hyeong-bae, mayor of the South Jeolla Province-Gwangju integrated special city, has welcomed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's decision to designate the area around the Gwangju military airport site as a candidate for the Honam region's advanced semiconductor national industrial complex.
"The designation of the military airport site as a candidate will mark a historic starting point for building a new growth axis for South Korea's semiconductor industry," Min said. "I am grateful for the government and relevant agencies' decision, and we will focus all our capabilities on ensuring the national project is carried out successfully."
He added that the semiconductor national industrial complex on the Gwangju military airport site "must be developed into a future-oriented advanced city that integrates production, research, corporate support and residential functions." Min said he would work to build a unified team with the government, companies and relevant agencies to nurture the site into a new semiconductor industry hub.
The ministry designated approximately 8.26 million square meters of land around the Gwangju military airport site as the candidate for the Honam region's advanced semiconductor national industrial complex on Wednesday, following deliberation and approval by the Industrial Location Policy Review Committee.
The ministry said it had comprehensively reviewed the need for a national industrial complex and corporate investment demand, and announced plans to develop the site into a corporate advanced city integrating residential, education, cultural and transportation functions.
The special city also plans to activate its administrative support system with the goal of completing semiconductor production facilities — fabrication plants, or fabs — by June 2030, in line with the investment schedules of anchor companies including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
sij@heraldcorp.com
