Through mediation by Gyeonggi Province, a portion of the Yongin National Industrial Complex located in the Songtan Water Source Protection Area, where Pyeongtaek City and Yongin City have been in conflict over water source protection for the past 40 years, will be deregulated.
On the 17th, Gyeonggi Province signed an agreement at the FKI Tower in Yeouido, Seoul, with eight organizations including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Environment, Yongin City, Pyeongtaek City, Samsung Electronics, and LH to ensure the successful establishment of the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex and to promote win-win cooperation.
According to the agreement, a portion of the Yongin National Industrial Complex site included in the Songtan Water Source Protection Area regulation zone will be removed from the regulated area. This area has been the site of a conflict lasting over 40 years between Yongin City, which has demanded deregulation, and Pyeongtaek City, which insists on protection of the water source.
Gyeonggi Province previously intervened in 2015 to resolve the conflict and formed a public-private-government consultative body in 2019. In 2021, it signed a “Pyeongtaek Lake Watershed Win-Win Cooperation Agreement” with the Ministry of Environment, Yongin, Pyeongtaek, and Anseong cities.
Pyeongtaek City made the decisive decision to close the water intake facility located in the Songtan Water Source Protection Area to strengthen the national semiconductor industry's competitiveness, and the area will be deregulated from the water source protection zone. However, to prevent a shortage of domestic water due to the closure of the intake facility, Pyeongtaek City agreed to use the water originally planned for supply to the Godeok Industrial Complex as domestic water for Pyeongtaek City, and the shortage of industrial water will be compensated through seawater desalination by the city and Samsung Electronics.
Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Environment will continue efforts to improve water quality by designating Pyeongtaek Lake as a “priority management reservoir” and installing two automatic water quality monitoring stations. The location of the discharge outlet for industrial wastewater treatment will be reflected in the industrial complex plan after gathering opinions from Gyeonggi Province, Yongin City, and Pyeongtaek City.
Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon (third from the left) is attending the win-win agreement ceremony for the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex on the 17th and taking a commemorative photo with the attendees.
Gyeonggi Province is providing full support at the provincial government level for the successful promotion of the Yongin National Industrial Complex. In March of last year, immediately after the government announced the Yongin Industrial Complex, Gyeonggi Province formed a semiconductor support task force (TF).
Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province presided over the kickoff meeting and requested, “Please become a platform that can resolve the difficulties faced by semiconductor companies.” The TF held five meetings led by the Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs to discuss current issues such as the deregulation of the water source protection area.
The Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster will be developed over a total area of 7.28 million square meters (2.2 million pyeong) in the Idong and Namsa-eup areas of Yongin City, and will house six manufacturing plants along with up to 150 cooperative companies.
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