Court Rules Yongin Semiconductor Cluster Approval Lawful... Environmental Group Loses Lawsuit

Standing Recognized for Plaintiffs
"Discretion Should Be Broadly Granted"

An environmental group filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the national industrial complex plan for the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster, but lost the case. The court ruled that the government's approval of the semiconductor cluster was legitimate.

Construction site of Yongin Semiconductor Cluster General Industrial Complex, Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the legal community on January 15, the Seoul Administrative Court's 14th Division for Administrative Cases (Presiding Judge Lee Sangdeok) ruled against the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by 16 citizens and activists from the environmental group Climate Solution against the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, seeking to nullify the approval of the 'Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster National Industrial Complex Plan' and other related actions.

The court acknowledged that the plaintiffs had standing to contest the validity of the approval. However, the court found that, even if the climate change impact assessment was partially insufficient, the shortcomings were not so severe as to be equivalent to not conducting an assessment at all. The court also determined that the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport did not exceed or abuse his discretionary authority.

Previously, in March of last year, Climate Solution and others filed a lawsuit claiming that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's approval of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster project was unlawful. Their argument was based on alleged problems with the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction plans as stipulated by the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth, among other regulations.

The Yongin Semiconductor Cluster plan is a project to establish a national industrial complex specializing in system semiconductors on a 7.77 million square meter site in Namsa-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. The plan was finalized in March 2023 under the administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol.