Mayor Min welcomes designation of Muan national industrial complex candidate site

"We will open the path to future advanced industries representing the southwestern region of South Korea."

Min Hyeong-bae, mayor of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City, said Tuesday the designation of an area spanning 3.46 million square meters in Hyeongyeong-myeon, Muan-gun, as a candidate site for the Muan National Industrial Complex was warmly welcomed. "We warmly welcome this together with 3.2 million special city residents," he said. "We are deeply grateful to the government for making such a bold decision."

The Muan National Industrial Complex is set to serve as a forward base handling the semiconductor materials, parts and equipment supply chain as well as export and logistics functions.

The candidate site sits at a key transportation and logistics hub connected to Muan International Airport, the Honam high-speed railway line and expressways. It is also well positioned to foster a distributed energy industry by tapping the southwestern region's abundant renewable energy resources, making it a site that can integrate advanced industry, logistics and energy.

The complex is also expected to help build a semiconductor industry ecosystem in the Honam region, working in tandem with an advanced semiconductor national industrial complex planned for the site vacated by the relocation of Gwangju's military airbase.

Min said the city would focus all its capabilities on developing the Muan National Industrial Complex. "We will work as one team with the central government, Muan-gun and other partners to push forward swiftly — from drawing up the industrial complex plan and building infrastructure to attracting businesses," he said.

He added that the candidate site designation had laid the groundwork for resolving both the Gwangju military airbase relocation and Muan's future development together. "The future growth engine that Muan has called for now has a concrete shape — a national industrial complex," he said.