JEONNAM-GWANGJU — Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City is accelerating efforts to build a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region. Corporate investment, industrial complex development and infrastructure expansion are advancing in tandem, in step with the central government's push for a semiconductor mega-project. With the president calling for speed, the merged city offering administrative and fiscal support, a group chairman inspecting the site and ministers making successive visits, the cluster is moving from the planning stage to execution.
According to the city on the 15th, it enacted an ordinance on support for global semiconductor strategic investment on July 1, the same day the merged metropolitan city was launched. It then created a semiconductor industry support task force and opened a one-stop service window that provides dedicated support to individual companies from site preparation through to plant operation. From the outset, the city has focused its administration on attracting semiconductor investment and developing industrial complexes.
The speed quickly translated into results. On July 29, the city won designation of about 2.5 million pyeong at the Gwangju military airport site as a candidate location for a national semiconductor industrial complex. It then secured Cabinet approval to waive preliminary feasibility studies for a water supply project on Aug. 25 and for a power supply project on Sept. 1. The outcome reflects the city's decision to concentrate early administrative efforts on securing land, electricity and water — the core requirements of the semiconductor industry.
The central government is also throwing its weight behind the project. At a mega-project review meeting on Sept. 29, President Lee Jae-myung instructed officials to speed up the cluster's development, saying they should do so "even if it means revising laws or changing rules and guidelines." Following the president's order, the southwestern semiconductor cluster has emerged as a key implementation task at the national level.
The city is moving up its timeline with a target of beginning initial mass production in June 2030. Rather than waiting until the entire industrial complex site is secured, it plans to break ground in phases, starting with land that is already available.
The city will first use about 630,000 pyeong, including the planned relocation site for an ammunition depot, aiming to complete permits, design work and partial site preparation in 2027, build fabrication plants in 2028 and 2029, and finish the first fab in 2029. That approach departs from the conventional method of breaking ground only after all land is secured, opening sites wherever possible first. It is the heart of the city's push for speed.
The cluster is intended to be more than an industrial complex. The city envisions it as a new industrial and residential district connected to the existing urban area. To that end, it has formed a dedicated team for living conditions in what it calls a livable semiconductor city. It also plans to draw up a plan covering housing, education, healthcare and transportation. The strategy is to build a city where companies invest, skilled workers find jobs and families settle down.
Behind this administrative pace is the strong resolve of Mayor Min Hyung-bae. Min has pushed back directly against skepticism in some quarters that semiconductor investment in the Honam region is unworkable. At an international forum on the semiconductor and AI transformation on Sept. 10, he said, "We are working hard to make sure administration never lags behind corporate investment." At an economic forum hosted by the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he called for breaking what he described as "learned skepticism," saying, "We have to build this together so that companies have no choice but to come to Honam."
The city's resolve has also drawn corporate site visits. On the 9th of this month, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won toured the Gwangju military airport and the planned ammunition depot relocation site. Meeting reporters there, Chey said the group "may have to build plants in Yongin and Jeonnam-Gwangju in parallel" and pledged to "build them as quickly as possible." Min responded that the city would "boldly and substantively deploy its 6 trillion won [about $4.2 billion] combined budget in the areas companies need."
With corporate investment plans aligning with the city's willingness to commit funds, the capacity to execute the cluster project is rising further.
Relevant central government ministries are also visiting the site. On the 12th, three days after Chey's visit, Trade and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan toured the cluster site. Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul followed on the 14th, and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Hong Ji-sun visited on the same day as this report to review plans for land, power and water supply. Industrial, defense and land administration are converging on a single project site.
The city is incorporating corporate requests into its industrial complex development plan. Through consultations with relevant agencies, it is also firming up schedules for supplying land and infrastructure. It plans to process permits and support procedures as quickly as possible.
The effects of merged administration have already shown up in support for an existing company. Semiconductor firm Amkor announced a 1 trillion won [about $700 million] investment in its Gwangju plant in the Cheomdan district of Buk-gu in June and then pursued further expansion. But wastewater treatment became an obstacle as the existing sewage treatment facility reached its limits. The city immediately proposed linking the plant to a public wastewater treatment facility in Jangseong County. It signed an agreement with the county to jointly pursue permits, construction and operation.
Had the area still been divided between Gwangju City and Jeonnam Province, the matter would have stalled at the administrative boundary. Instead, the merged administration resolved the company's difficulty quickly by working across city and county lines. It is a case of what the city calls the synergy of consolidation working at an actual investment site.
Min said the city would "prepare everything at once — power and water, roads and transportation, as well as housing, education and healthcare." He added, "We will build an industrial city where companies invest, talented workers come to live and families can settle down together."