[2026 Audit] Clash Over 'Southwestern Semiconductor' at Industry Committee... Opposition Also Calls for Chey Tae-won to Testify

Opposition: "The state and companies are investing... Call Chey Taewon"

Ruling party rebuts: "The opposition's demand is a classic example of intimidation"

The National Assembly Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee opened its parliamentary audit on Oct. 12, prompting a clash between the ruling and opposition parties over the development of a semiconductor cluster in the southwestern region. Calls were also made to verify plans for power infrastructure and to summon SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to the audit.

Yonhap News Agency

That day, the committee held a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly, questioning institutions including Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. The opposition said Chey should be named as a witness, citing his visit on Oct. 9 to the site of the Honam semiconductor cluster. It argued that companies were moving ahead with the project under pressure from the government and ruling party, without scrutiny of its procedural legitimacy.

Koo Jageun, a committee member from the People Power Party, called for Chey to appear, saying, "Chey says he absolutely must not appear before the public, yet he rushed over in response to a single remark (criticizing businesses) by Min Hyung-bae, mayor of Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City. This is behavior that taunts the National Assembly and the public." Fellow party member Cho Jiyeon said, "This project involves a massive investment of public funds, and companies are also making enormous investments," adding, "So of course Chairman Chey should appear at the audit."

The ruling party pushed back. Jung Jinuk of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "The significance of Chairman Chey's visit was that it dispelled (local residents') doubts about whether investment in a semiconductor cluster in Honam was possible." He added, "If the National Assembly discusses every single thing an entrepreneur does in the field, companies should be looking to the world and doing business, but they will end up looking only to the National Assembly." He also called the opposition's demand "a typical threat."

Scrutiny also continued into plans to build the infrastructure needed for the Honam semiconductor cluster. Kim Doeup, a committee member from the People Power Party, asked Korea Electric Power Corporation whether it could promptly build power facilities in the area and secure funding for its share of the investment. Regarding the company’s demand that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix pay their electricity bills in advance to help manage its bond issuance limit, Kim also said, "It didn’t just twist the companies’ right arms; it twisted their left arms, too."

Korea Electric Power Corporation explained that the state, including the utility, would cover 20% of the cost of power grid facilities for the Honam semiconductor cluster, while companies would pay the remaining 80%. When asked whether this contradicted the Special Act on Semiconductors, which states that the state and local governments may cover more than 50% of the costs, Korea Electric Power Corporation President Kim Dongcheol said, "The fact that the Special Act on Semiconductors exists does not mean that the state and local governments are necessarily required to provide support."

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