President says proper management could supply 1 million tons of industrial water daily; PPP slams GPU supplementary budget talk as 'cash handout'

President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a meeting on future security innovation enterprise development strategy held at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a meeting on future security innovation enterprise development strategy held at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung has directly pushed back against criticism that the expected large-scale investments by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the Honam region amount to favoritism toward a specific area.

Lee cited a news article on Saturday raising concerns about potential water shortages in the region, posting on X (formerly Twitter) that "Honam has just as much water as Yeongnam or the greater Seoul area." He added that a review found it would be possible to supply 1 million tons of industrial water per day if water resources were properly allocated and managed with the systems needed for advanced urban development.

On water resource policy in the Honam region, Lee said the area had been "neglected at the level of an agricultural town for decades for the political purpose of divide-and-rule, with water resources left unmanaged beyond what was needed to meet agricultural water supply needs."

He rebuffed critics, saying "Samsung and SK hynix are not foolish enough to plan the establishment of massive factories in a region lacking water — an essential element for semiconductor production — without any review," and that "the government would not recommend building factories in an area without water." He went on to say, "Setting aside political positions, I ask for your understanding and cooperation on balanced regional development and a nationwide policy of mutual prosperity and coexistence, on which the fate of the Republic of Korea depends."

Kim Yong-beom, the Cheong Wa Dae policy chief, also posted on Facebook that day, arguing that "the pool of water resources is sufficient — it is simply scattered across dam surplus capacity, unused allocations that have been over-distributed for decades, large agricultural weirs and retention facilities, and reclaimed wastewater."

Four minutes after his first post, Lee followed up, writing that "a monk sees a monk, and a pig sees a pig," and that "people often assume others think and act the same way they do." The remarks were widely interpreted as a direct response to criticism from the People Power Party and other opposition forces, who have accused the government of pressuring companies for political reasons to push semiconductor factory construction in Honam.

Meanwhile, the People Power Party criticized Lee for signaling a supplementary budget to fund GPU procurement, saying "the Lee Jae Myung administration is trying to use even AI as yet another pretext for a supplementary budget."

Chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said in a statement that day that Lee "has begun stoking the fire for a cash-handout supplementary budget dressed up as AI, by hinting at a second supplementary budget."

Park said it was "common sense that any temporary surplus tax revenue should be used to reduce national debt and restore fiscal soundness," adding: "But President Lee is fixated solely on the idea of pouring fiscal resources into political gain. Is the national treasury his personal pocket money?"

Park went on to say it was "a shallow scheme to scatter taxpayers' money to escape a political crisis as approval ratings fall, and a shameful trick to buy public sentiment by throwing cash around," adding that "AI competitiveness is built through long-term investment and regulatory reform, not a one-off supplementary budget."


igiza77@heraldcorp.com