[Special Column] The Answer for Semiconductors: Distributed Clusters!

Byung Hun Lee
Senior Vice Chair, Honam Special Development Committee
Member of the 21st National Assembly

Byung-Hun Lee, Senior Vice Chairman of the Honam Development Special Committee.

The debate surrounding the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster is not merely about the interests of a specific region; at its core, it is a national issue concerning how to maintain global competitiveness.

Nevertheless, some politicians and media outlets define the very discussion of reconsidering the cluster's location as a source of confusion that undermines industrial competitiveness. They repeatedly argue that semiconductor clustering is inevitable and that Yongin is the optimal site in terms of power, water, and workforce. The phrase "semiconductor southern boundary line" has even emerged. However, such arguments ignore the changing structure of the global semiconductor industry and the reality of the energy transition, reflecting a metropolitan-centric mindset.

First, semiconductors cannot exist without electricity.

The semiconductor industry is a representative power-intensive sector. Once the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster is completed, it will require up to 16 GW of electricity-equivalent to running 16 nuclear power plants at full capacity for an entire year. This accounts for approximately 16% of Korea's maximum national power demand.

However, the metropolitan power grid has already reached its structural limits. Major power grid projects, such as the East Coast-Metropolitan Area high-voltage direct current transmission line, the West Coast submarine transmission line, and overland transmission lines, have been delayed for extended periods due to resident opposition and permitting conflicts. As seen in the case of the East Seoul substation, public acceptance has also reached its limits.

The National Assembly Research Service has already highlighted the mismatch: "Factories move at lightning speed, but electricity crawls like a turtle." This is now a reality.

To push ahead with the plan while ignoring these conditions is a choice that will only lead to greater delays, higher costs, and increased national industrial risk in the future. Reconsidering the location is not a source of confusion but a normalization process to return the national strategic industry to a sustainable trajectory.

Second, the so-called "semiconductor southern boundary line" is not based on industrial logic but is a byproduct of metropolitan concentration.

The reason semiconductor talent is concentrated in the metropolitan area is not due to technical necessity. It is simply the structural result of jobs and industrial infrastructure being concentrated in the metropolitan area over a long period. The global semiconductor industry has already adopted a distributed structure. In the United States, design, manufacturing, and packaging functions are distributed by region to strengthen supply chain stability. Taiwan also manages geopolitical risks by operating multiple regional hubs and overseas production bases.

In Korea, Amkor Technology Korea, a global leader in packaging and testing, has stated that workforce supply at its Gwangju site is actually stable. This demonstrates that when appropriate industries and jobs are created, talent will relocate regardless of region. The "semiconductor southern boundary line" is not based on scientific evidence but is a distorted perception created by metropolitan-centric structures.

Third, semiconductor decentralization is not about balanced regional development-it is a prerequisite for global competitiveness.

Expanding renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions are no longer options but essential standards in the global market.

ASML of the Netherlands, which possesses unrivaled technology in semiconductor lithography equipment, is pursuing a reduction strategy to achieve carbon neutrality across its entire supply chain by 2040. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have also joined RE100, expanding their transition to renewable energy and working to reduce carbon emissions in semiconductor production. This demonstrates that, in the global semiconductor industry, carbon neutrality and energy transition have emerged as key competitive factors alongside technological prowess.

However, in Korea, the supply conditions for renewable energy and the rigid structure of the power market structurally constrain this transition. This is not a problem that can be solved by the efforts of individual companies alone; it is a core challenge that requires the combined action of national energy policy and industrial strategy. The semiconductor decentralization strategy is not a matter of regional consideration, but an industrial strategy necessary for survival in global competition.

Fourth, hyper-concentration in the metropolitan area is not a growth strategy-it amplifies national risk.

The growing demand for AI semiconductors and HBM offers domestic semiconductor companies unprecedented growth opportunities, but it also brings unprecedented risks. Over-concentrating production capacity on a single metropolitan power grid means that a single power outage or transmission delay could shake not only businesses but the entire national economy.

Nevertheless, forcing the construction of transmission lines in regions such as Honam and Chungcheong to operate metropolitan factories, and attempting to persuade residents to accept sacrifices through financial compensation, risks repeating another incident like the Miryang case. This does not strengthen industrial competitiveness; rather, it institutionalizes instability in national infrastructure management.

Fifth, the answer is not relocation, but a national semiconductor expansion strategy through functional decentralization.

The solution is not a binary debate about relocation. The Yongin Semiconductor Cluster should be pursued in stages within feasible limits, but future expansion of manufacturing lines, back-end processes, and the materials, parts, and equipment industries should be strategically distributed to regions with superior power and renewable energy supply conditions.

The Honam region offers stable baseload power based on nuclear and renewable energy, the highest potential for renewables in the country, hydrogen energy research infrastructure, and a solid foundation for industrial water and workforce development. Attracting a system semiconductor foundry to Gwangju and Jeonnam and distributing packaging and back-end processes to the region is a practical alternative that enhances both the sustainability and supply chain stability of the national semiconductor industry. The question is no longer "Where should it be placed?" but "How should it be expanded?"

When considering the four constraints of power, energy, supply chain, and time simultaneously, the hyper-concentrated metropolitan model has already reached its limits. The future of K-semiconductors can only be sustained through a connected, distributed national semiconductor cluster strategy.