Senior executives from SK hynix visited the Gwangju military airport site Monday to assess conditions for what is being described as the largest industrial project in the Honam region since the nation's founding — a semiconductor cluster valued at 800 trillion won ($578 billion).
The visit comes amid President Lee Jae-myung's push for what he has called an all-out blitz of progress on the project, as cooperation among the central government, local authorities and the private sector grows more concrete. The integrated special city of Jeonnam-Gwangju and SK hynix have maintained ongoing exchanges between executives and working-level staff to jointly review the region's locational conditions and semiconductor industry infrastructure.
What made the visit notable was the number of senior executives who came to the site in person.
The delegation included SK hynix President Yeom Seong-jin, who oversees communications, along with Executive Vice Presidents Hwang Mu-yeon and Park Ho-hyeon, as well as Kim Gi-hong, head of the semiconductor industry support team at the integrated special city of Jeonnam-Gwangju.
The SK hynix delegation inspected the military airport grounds from the control tower Monday morning, surveying the site and its surrounding conditions to assess what would be needed to establish a semiconductor production hub there.
After the site visit, the group held a luncheon meeting with Ko Gwang-wan, vice mayor for safety and public welfare, at the Gwangju office of the integrated special city of Jeonnam-Gwangju. The two sides exchanged views on the direction of their cooperation, covering site conditions, infrastructure and corporate support needed for the successful development of a Honam-region semiconductor cluster.
Discussions are growing increasingly concrete, centering on the core requirements for actual fab construction and operation, including land, power supply and water.
The integrated special city of Jeonnam-Gwangju plans to accelerate preparations for establishing a production hub in line with the central government's push for rapid development of the Honam semiconductor cluster. The city intends to proactively secure key infrastructure — including land, power and water — so that work can proceed without delay the moment a company makes an investment decision, while simultaneously advancing consultations with the government and relevant agencies.
"Through this visit, we were able to directly assess conditions at the Gwangju military airport site and exchange a wide range of views with the local community," SK hynix President Yeom said. "We will continue to communicate and cooperate closely with the integrated special city of Jeonnam-Gwangju to ensure the successful development of the Honam semiconductor cluster."
Vice Mayor Ko added that the repeated on-site visits and ongoing consultations by SK hynix executives and staff "signal that the Honam semiconductor cluster has moved beyond a mere concept and entered a stage where both sides are jointly reviewing actual site conditions and making concrete preparations."
sij@heraldcorp.com
