Climate minister’s proposal risks tripping Korea in the semiconductor race

 

The photo shows the site of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin District, Yongin, Gyeonggi, where construction was underway in early January 2024. The government is stepping up support for the construction of a semiconductor mega cluster in southern Gyeonggi Province, backed by 622 trillion won in private investment from companies including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. [YONHAP]

 
Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan said in a media interview on Friday that he was considering whether the Yongin semiconductor cluster should be relocated to a region with abundant electricity. Citing estimates that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix would require power equivalent to about 15 nuclear reactors, or roughly 15 gigawatts, if they move into Yongin, he argued that policy should be changed so companies locate where energy is produced, using transmission networks only when unavoidable. The idea reflects a “local production, local consumption” approach to energy. It raises doubts, however, about whether the realities of the semiconductor industry and the national strategic timeline have been fully considered.
 
The Yongin semiconductor cluster first took shape in April 2019, when the Moon Jae-in administration unveiled its “System Semiconductor Vision 2030.” It was later designated a national industrial complex in March 2023 under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. The project has been pursued across political administrations as a core national strategy. Spanning 7.77 million square meters, comparable in size to Yeouido, it is backed by national plans for power plants, transmission lines and water supply infrastructure. Compensation and administrative procedures are already underway. Against this backdrop, claims that the project could still be moved collide head-on with the semiconductor industry's decade-long time horizon.
 
Questions also arise over whether Saemangeum in North Jeolla, often cited as an alternative, has the foundation needed to support advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Some in the ruling party have proposed building an RE100 industrial complex there, powered entirely by renewable energy, and relocating part of semiconductor production. But renewable energy cannot yet deliver the constant, stable electricity that semiconductor fabs require. Solar and wind power are inherently intermittent, leaving continued reliance on nuclear and LNG generation and large-scale transmission networks unavoidable. Relocation would not eliminate the problem. It would recreate the same infrastructure elsewhere, adding time and cost.
 

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A recent proposal by the Democratic Party’s Honam Development Committee to attract semiconductor investment to Gwangju suffers from similar limitations. The argument is that semiconductors could reverse youth outflows and regional decline. Comparable ideas were raised in Gangwon in the past, but failed to progress due to a lack of feasibility. The semiconductor industry depends on dense clusters of specialized talent and suppliers. It is unclear whether the minister consulted the Ministry of Trade and Industry or the companies expected to invest before floating the idea.
 
Semiconductor production requires power, water and supply chains to function in tandem. Treating such an ecosystem as an experiment in regional policy or ideological preference risks undermining national competitiveness. As the United States and China intensify competition for technological supremacy, Japan has rapidly completed TSMC’s Kumamoto plant, while China is closing in on Korea in the DRAM market.
 
What Korea needs now is not debate over relocation but the swift completion of the Yongin semiconductor cluster. The semiconductor race is a contest of speed. There is no time to lose.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.