President Lee: "Hyundai Motor's Saemangeum Investment Is Also Massive"... Strong Criticism of 'Neglect' Claims

"It Only Seems Small Compared to Other Trillion-Won Investments... Bright Prospects for the Saemangeum Project"

"Decisions That Determine a Company's Fate Cannot Be Divided by Region... Beware of Unrealistic Promises"

On July 16, President Lee Jae-myung directly refuted views that Jeonbuk is being neglected, asserting that Hyundai Motor Group's 9 trillion won investment in Saemangeum is, in fact, a massive investment, even if it seems relatively small compared to the ultra-large investment announcements in other regions.

President Lee Jae-myung is asking questions to agency heads at the Ministry Work Report held at the Blue House's Reception Hall on July 16, 2026. Photo by Cheongwadae Press Photographers Group, Yonhap News Agency

During the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Saemangeum Development Agency's work report on the same day, President Lee stated, "Hyundai Motor’s investment is actually huge in scale." He added, "Because we hear things like 800 trillion won being invested elsewhere, there’s a tendency to think, 'What is this?'" He emphasized that, "The scale of the industrial projects attracted to Saemangeum is also truly enormous. It should not be evaluated solely based on the initial investment amount."

President Lee particularly highlighted the fact that Hyundai Motor Group's investment in Saemangeum is not limited to building a single factory, but has the potential to expand into a production base covering the entire robotics industry in the future. When the head of the Saemangeum Development Agency relayed that Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, stated at the announcement site that Saemangeum would be developed as extensively as Ulsan, President Lee replied, "If the business expands successfully, can’t it become several times, or even dozens of times, the initial investment?"

Participants in the work report also explained that if Hyundai Motor Group pushes forward with the robot foundry business in Saemangeum, related companies and testing facilities will move in, enabling the formation of an entire industrial ecosystem. President Lee commented, "Isn’t this tantamount to building a TSMC for robots?" and added, "The dream is to realize a factory in Saemangeum that manufactures every type of robot that can be conceived of in the world."

He further remarked, "When the announcement was first made, the amount was so large that everyone was surprised. But subsequent investments in the hundreds of trillions of won have made this look relatively small by comparison." He stressed, "This is still a tremendously large project even now, and if it extends to the robot foundry, there will be a huge array of projects that can be piloted here."

President Lee also strongly criticized arguments in the political arena that reference larger investments in other regions to claim that Saemangeum and Jeonbuk are being sidelined. President Lee said, "Ordinary citizens might think, 'Are we only getting this much when others are getting much more?'" but pointed out, "It’s truly a problem when people in positions of responsibility make such absurd statements."

He also asserted that private sector investments from companies like Samsung Electronics, SK, and Hyundai Motor are fundamentally different from the government's allocation of public institutions to different regions. President Lee stated, "Companies make policy decisions staking their fate on economic principles," and stressed, "This is not an issue where you simply assign a public corporation here or there because 'this region feels left out.' Unlike dividing public institutions, you cannot treat private investment like that." He warned, "Making unrealistic promises to make people feel temporarily satisfied only to create worse situations later is the most irresponsible sort of behavior."

He also instructed that, since the government managed to attract Hyundai Motor Group’s investment in Saemangeum against the odds, it is necessary to clearly communicate the scale and long-term prospects of the project to local residents. President Lee said, "The Saemangeum project is a major achievement by the government and, in fact, among the largest development projects with the most promising prospects. It is vital to explain just how large this project is and how it can expand in the future."

The Saemangeum Development Agency plans to supply industrial land and solar power sites in a timely manner so that Hyundai Motor Group can break ground early next year. It also intends to push for designation as a mega-special zone, regulatory easing, and improvements to transportation and residential conditions. President Lee further ordered that, for the Saemangeum project overall, the government should move away from limitless ‘all-at-once’ development, concentrating on essential projects and decisively discontinuing plans with little effectiveness. He said, "We must abandon what needs to be abandoned and change what needs to be changed, so that we can streamline the project at the appropriate level and ensure meaningful investment." He also called for particular focus on attracting companies related to Hyundai Motor’s robotics industry.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.