Climate Committee, Ruling and Opposition Spar Over 'Honam Semiconductor'...Tensions Rise Over Summoning Samsung and SK Group Chairmen as Witnesses

Climate Committee Approves Jeong Dowon, Chairman of Sampyo Group, as Witness

On September 28, the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee approved the list of witnesses and reference persons for the upcoming parliamentary audit. During the meeting, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over summoning the chairmen of Samsung Group and SK Group as witnesses to examine the process behind the promotion of the Honam Semiconductor Cluster. Jung Dowon, Chairman of Sampyo Group, was also chosen as a witness regarding the issue of dioxin detection at Sampyo Cement.

At the full committee meeting on the same day, the People Power Party insisted that the committee must scrutinize plans for securing electricity and water supplies for the Honam Semiconductor Cluster, as well as the corporate decision-making process for investment. The party requested that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won be summoned as witnesses.

Logos of Samsung Group and SK Group. The Asia Business Daily DB

Kim Hyung-dong, secretary for the People Power Party, stated, "If the investment decisions were made by the companies independently without government pressure, there is no reason why the actual leaders of both groups cannot appear before the National Assembly to explain. The public wants to know what conditions the companies requested from the government and what the government promised in return."

Nah Kyung-won, also from the People Power Party, remarked, "I understand that both companies refused Korea Electric Power Corporation's request to prepay five years' worth of electricity fees. We need to hear why this was necessary and listen to explanations from both sides, the government and the companies." She added, "In terms of the strike targets for the labor union, the government established a guideline that there can be no strikes until the companies break ground. If these points are not coordinated properly, investments may be made, but actual factory operations could become difficult."

Park Sumin, another member of the People Power Party, emphasized, "The core of this project, which is unprecedented in scale since the founding of the Republic of Korea, is securing water and electricity. We also need to examine how the use of power and water resources might impact the surrounding ecosystem and existing industries."

The ruling party stated that it would continue to coordinate the remaining witness and reference person selections through negotiations between the secretaries of both parties. Choi Kisang of the Democratic Party of Korea commented, "We will do our utmost in the ongoing discussions over witness and reference person selection to ensure that the purpose and aims of the parliamentary audit are fully achieved."

Meanwhile, on this day, the committee adopted Sampyo Group Chairman Jung Dowon as a witness. Lee Jong-bae of the People Power Party plans to question him about the dioxin detection at Sampyo Cement and related management responsibilities during the audit.

Additionally, both People Power Party and Democratic Party lawmakers requested the summoning of witnesses related to delayed wage payments at Kookje Shinmun and Daewoo Winia, respectively.

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