Lee says livability key to mega-project success, urges lessons from innovation city failures

President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that livability conditions must be designed into mega-projects from the very start, alongside industrial complex development, warning against repeating the mistakes of past innovation cities where poor residential infrastructure left workers reluctant to relocate with their families.

Speaking at the opening of the third joint public-private mega-project review meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said it was the first session since the National Strategic Investment Adviser's Office was established within the presidential compound. "Please come together as one team, centered on this dedicated organization, and pick up the pace," he said.

Lee identified livability as the central theme of the meeting. "While the previous two sessions focused on issues related to building industrial complexes, today we will concentrate on how to create the residential and living conditions that are truly the key to project success," he said. "The ultimate goal of the mega-projects is to draw young people and talented workers to the regions in search of jobs, and to ensure that every region and every citizen shares equally in the benefits of growth."

He said the experience of past innovation cities should serve as a cautionary tale, and called for residential and welfare infrastructure to be pursued in tandem with industrial development. "This requires not simply building industrial complexes, but creating a new regional development model that integrates advanced industry with housing, education, healthcare and culture," Lee said. "Taking the lesson of innovation cities, where poor living conditions led to low rates of family relocation, we must bundle industrial complex construction and livability planning into a single plan from the very beginning of each project."

He went on to say the needs of workers' families must be assessed before support measures are drawn up. "We must first understand what is needed not only by those who will work at these companies, but by their families as well, and then devise ways to support them," Lee said, also asking companies to actively share their employees' needs and preferences. He added that it was important to give existing local residents confidence that "when cutting-edge strategic industries grow in our region, my life will change for the better."

Lee also addressed regional co-prosperity and youth education. "We need to provide sufficient education and training opportunities so that local young people and students can share in the high-quality jobs being created," he said, adding that concrete plans for co-existence with local small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners must also be firmly established.

He then reviewed progress on key projects by sector. "We must proceed with a sense of mission — that the future of the Republic of Korea depends on the success of the three mega-projects — and do our utmost to ensure the plans move forward without a hitch," Lee said. On the southern semiconductor belt, he said the goal was to expand the semiconductor growth model from the Greater Seoul area to the entire country. "It will be important to organically connect the regional strengths of each area — Honam as a production hub, Yeongnam as a base for materials, parts and equipment, and Chungcheong for advanced packaging," he said. He also called for potential investment delays to be identified and removed in advance.

Lee pressed for tangible results in AI, describing it as next-generation technology infrastructure. "Physical AI and AI data centers must accelerate technology development and infrastructure construction to deliver results that citizens can feel," he said. "Physical AI must lead market creation by significantly expanding its use in public-sector pilot programs." On AI data centers, he directed officials to "prepare concrete implementation plans to ensure that real benefits flow back to local communities, including through nurturing local talent and involving local companies."

Lee said the ultimate measure of the mega-projects' success would not be the scale of investment but how much people's lives actually improve. "We must all pool our strength and wisdom so that these projects create new opportunities for young people, restore hope for growth in the regions, and give citizens confidence in the future of the Republic of Korea," he said.