LH expands evaluator pool to 452 for Yongin semiconductor complex bid review

Korea Land and Housing Corporation has unveiled a strengthened review framework ahead of Wednesday's evaluation of business plans submitted for the first construction zone of the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex, designed to significantly enhance fairness and transparency in the selection process.

According to LH on Tuesday, the corporation held a pre-briefing Monday and informed bidding companies of the composition of the evaluator candidate pool for the first-zone review.

The pool of evaluator candidates has been dramatically expanded for this review. LH added a large number of vetted outside experts to its existing 254-member technical advisory committee, bringing the total candidate pool to 452. The corporation said the expansion — drawing on specialists from other agencies — was intended to raise both the fairness and the expertise of the evaluation process, given that the timely development of the Yongin semiconductor complex is one of the government's three core mega-projects.

To cut off any possibility of lobbying or prior contact with evaluators, LH released the candidate pool two days before the final selection. An LH official pushed back against calls from some quarters for a standing pool of permanent candidates, saying that ensuring predictability through ongoing management would instead risk encouraging prior contact and misconduct. "Dramatically expanding the candidate pool through a temporary appointment system is the way to eliminate post-award discretion by the contracting agency and secure fairness," the official said.

LH also clarified that technical advisory committee members recruited this year are currently participating in evaluations for construction engineering and contractor selection, and that there are no procedural or legal obstacles to appointing them as evaluators for this project, which uses a construction management at risk model in which the contractor is involved from the design stage.

Amid these preparations, LH held a fair-competition joint pledge ceremony Tuesday at its Gyeonggi Southern Regional Headquarters with the two consortiums participating in the bid.

LH pledged to conduct the review objectively and transparently, free from any improper outside influence, while the participating companies vowed to compete solely on technical merit and to refrain entirely from any conduct that could undermine fair competition — including prior contact with evaluators, unsanctioned briefings and improper solicitation.

At the ceremony, LH reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy should any misconduct or irregularities involving prior evaluator contact be detected, including score deductions in the relevant review and restrictions on future bid participation.

Meanwhile, LH plans to break ground on the first-zone site development work at the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex in October, having moved up the project schedule.