[2026 Audit] Industry Minister Kim Junggwan: "Honam Semiconductor Site Ultimately Chosen by Companies"

Assemblywoman Cho Jiyeon: "Companies Did Not Initially Propose Any Specific Region"

Minister Kim: "Both Sides Had No Choice But to Consider Various Sites from Multiple Angles"

Yonhap News Agency

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Junggwan stated regarding the selection of the site for the Honam semiconductor cluster, "It is true that the government proposed candidate sites, but the final decision was made by the companies." While he acknowledged that the government had offered multiple candidate sites, including the Gwangju military airport, to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in advance, he emphasized that this was not an attempt to steer investment toward a specific region or to pressure companies into an investment decision.

On October 6, at the National Assembly’s parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy by the Committee on Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups, Assemblywoman Cho Jiyeon of the People Power Party asked, “Did the companies first propose investment in the southwest region to the government?” Minister Kim responded, “There was a part where the companies chose the southwest region,” clarifying his position.

The Honam semiconductor cluster is a project in which Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will each invest 400 trillion won, totaling 800 trillion won, to build four memory semiconductor fabrication plants (fabs). Subsequently, the area around Gwangju military airport was selected as the site, and the government targets the completion of the first fab by 2029 and mass production by 2030.

Controversy arose after it became known that the government had proposed site candidates before the companies did. Previously, at the full session of the same committee in August, Minister Kim had also stated that when companies needed additional production sites, the government presented multiple candidate sites. At that time, he acknowledged that regions other than Honam were also considered but did not reveal specific locations.

Assemblywoman Cho pointed out that the government and the companies offered differing explanations. The government underscores the companies’ role in choosing the location for the Honam semiconductor cluster, whereas the companies state that they never proactively proposed investing in a specific region to the government.

In a response submitted by SK hynix to Assemblywoman Cho, it was also shown that government policy was among the factors considered in the site selection process. SK hynix explained that its decision to select the Gwangju military airport as the final site was based on an overall consideration of project economics, the supply chain of materials, components and equipment, technical human resources, expandability of the site, the conditions for electricity and water supply, as well as the 'government policy plan in line with the balanced regional development initiative.'

As some described this as a “battle over the truth,” Minister Kim drew a line, saying, “I do not see it that way.” He explained, "Both the government and the companies have no choice but to review a variety of sites from multiple perspectives."

There were also criticisms that the government’s megaproject-related budget is concentrated in the Honam region. In response, Minister Kim argued, “The budget related to the Honam region is included as part of the integrated fiscal support project following the administrative integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju.” He further stressed, "The 20 trillion won framework for fiscal support is premised upon the revision of the Special Act on the Integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju, and is allocated and managed with respect for the autonomy of local governments."

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