Lawmaker calls for Honam semiconductor cluster as Korea's second chip base
In short
Rep. Shin Jung-hoon told an Oct. 6 parliamentary audit that the Honam semiconductor cluster should be run as a national strategy to build a second chip production base after the capital region, saying what the region lacked was industry, not water or power. He cited 2023 industrial water-use figures showing the Yeongsan River basin at 1.7% of the national total against 31.1% for the Han River basin and 33.7% for the Nakdong, and pointed to Jeonnam's 213.4% electricity self-sufficiency rate. The government plans four semiconductor fabs and a supplier and workforce ecosystem in the southwest at a total of 800 trillion won, according to the reports.
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Rep. Shin Jung-hoon of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, said at the committee's Oct. 6 audit that the Honam semiconductor cluster should be treated as a national strategy to build a second production base after the capital region, “not a project that simply increases a regional share or forces companies to relocate” (documents 1, 3). Shin, whose district covers Naju and Hwasun in South Jeolla Province, said the region had lacked not resources but the base to connect them to industry and jobs (documents 1, 2). [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
According to the reports, the government plans four semiconductor fabs in the southwest together with a supplier and workforce ecosystem, at a total of 800 trillion won, to create a second production base alongside the capital region (documents 1, 3). [ 1 , 3 ]
Shin pointed to industrial water use as an indicator of the region's weak industrial base: in 2023 the Yeongsan River basin accounted for 1.7% of national industrial water use, against 31.1% for the Han River basin and 33.7% for the Nakdong River basin, gaps of roughly 18 and 20 times (documents 1, 3). “It is not that Honam had no water; it is that there was no industry using large-scale industrial water,” he said, adding that the gap showed how thin the region's industrial base was during industrialisation (documents 1, 3). [ 1 , 3 ]
On energy, Shin cited Jeonnam's electricity self-sufficiency rate of 213.4%, calculated from 2024 generation and power sales, and a renewable energy surplus rate of 53.1% based on a Bank of Korea Gwangju-Jeonnam analysis. Solar curtailment days in the province rose from 2 in 2023 to 26 in 2024, according to the report (document 1). [ 1 ]
On water supply for the planned complex, the report said the government aims to secure 1.06 million tons per day against an estimated daily demand of 650,000 tons, drawing on the Dongbok, Boseonggang, Juam, Naju and Jangheung dams and reused sewage water, and to prepare for additional future demand and drought (document 1). Shin said whether the project is feasible should not be judged on current water capacity alone, and called for expanding water sources, pipelines and reuse facilities on schedule, modernising agricultural water facilities, managing water quality and the environment, compensating residents for raising the Dongbok Dam, attracting materials, components and equipment firms, and consulting farmers over use of Yeongsan River estuary barrage water (document 1). [ 1 ]
He described the cluster as “a national leap project that redraws Korea's semiconductor production map” rather than one more industry added to Honam, and said the region should become the country's second semiconductor production base with farmers and residents growing alongside it (document 1). [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The remarks put a national-level price tag and infrastructure requirements onto a regional development plan, tying semiconductor capacity to water and power supply in the southwest. How the government schedules water sources, pipelines and reuse facilities, and how it handles dam raising and farm water issues, is presented in the coverage as the condition for the cluster to proceed. The plan, if built as described, would add a second chip production axis alongside the capital region.
Key facts
- Rep. Shin Jung-hoon of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, made the remarks at the committee's Oct. 6 audit of the climate, energy and environment ministry. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Shin represents the Naju and Hwasun district in South Jeolla Province. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The government plans four semiconductor fabs plus a supplier and workforce ecosystem in the southwest, at a total of 800 trillion won, to create a second production base after the capital region. [ 1 , 3 ]
- In 2023, the Yeongsan River basin accounted for 1.7% of national industrial water use, against 31.1% for the Han River basin and 33.7% for the Nakdong River basin. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Jeonnam's electricity self-sufficiency rate was 213.4%, based on 2024 generation and power sales, and the renewable energy surplus rate was 53.1% according to a Bank of Korea Gwangju-Jeonnam analysis. [ 1 ]
- Solar curtailment days rose from 2 in 2023 to 26 in 2024. [ 1 ]
- The government plans to secure 1.06 million tons of water per day, against an estimated daily demand of 650,000 tons for the southwest semiconductor industrial complex, using the Dongbok, Boseonggang, Juam, Naju and Jangheung dams and reused sewage water. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Shin said the Honam semiconductor cluster is a national strategy to build a second production base after the capital region, not a project to increase a regional share or force companies to relocate. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Shin said Honam did not lack water but lacked industry that consumed large volumes of industrial water. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The government plan covers four semiconductor fabs and a supplier and workforce ecosystem in the southwest at a total of 800 trillion won. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The 2023 industrial water use shares by river basin were 1.7% Yeongsan, 31.1% Han and 33.7% Nakdong. [ 1 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the 800 trillion won, four-fab plan has been formally decided, and when construction would begin. Asia Economy and Yonhap both describe it as a government plan, but neither cites an approval document or a government statement.
- How the government responded to Shin's requests on water infrastructure, dam-raising compensation and farm water. The documents report only the lawmaker's remarks; no government position is given.
- What Newsis reported in its article text about the remarks. The Newsis headline concerns Shin's statement, but the article text carried with it deals with the Supreme Court chief justice at a separate audit, so the outlet's details cannot be used.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Asia Economy publishes its report on Shin's remarks at the climate, energy and environment ministry audit. [ 1 ]
- Newsis publishes its report under the headline that what Honam lacked was industry, with semiconductors framed as a national leap. [ 2 ]
- Yonhap files from Naju on Shin's call for a second semiconductor production base in Honam. [ 3 ]