Opposition says sudden Honam semiconductor investment announcement warrants scrutiny

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]

By Yang Geun-hyuk, The Herald Business

The People Power Party on Sunday sharply criticized President Lee Jae Myung over a social media post in which he wrote, "A Buddha sees a Buddha, and a pig sees a pig."

PPP chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yun said in a statement that it was "simple common sense for the political community and the market to voice concern over the government's sudden announcement of a semiconductor investment in the Honam region." She added that "the intent to exploit the semiconductor industry — a matter of national importance for generations — for political purposes, timed to the ruling party's leadership convention and its internal power struggle, is far too transparent."

Choi said Lee was "insulting the public by dismissing as mere pig-eyed speculation the reasonable suspicion that corporate capital and the nation's future engine of growth have been reduced to a disposable tool for shoring up the administration's electoral base." She also asked, "Is it not because the president himself views the world through the lens of political scheming and ambition that even the legitimate concerns of the public and the press appear to him as politically motivated attacks?"

Earlier, on Saturday, Lee had written on X, formerly Twitter, "A Buddha sees a Buddha, and a pig sees a pig." In a separate post, he also said, "From the perspective of those who used to politically exploit national policy and twist the arms of businesses, this could look the same way." Some analysts say the remarks were aimed at opposition figures criticizing the Honam semiconductor cluster investment.

PPP spokesperson Jo Yong-sul also issued a statement calling on Lee to "stop stoking unnecessary controversy through social media politics and instead engage in an open public debate." Jo added that the PPP would "represent the public's questions and concerns raised in the course of pursuing the semiconductor cluster and participate in that debate."

Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min also weighed in on social media, writing that "the president must not demean as pigs the voices of citizens demanding fair competition." Yoo said the Lee administration's Honam semiconductor investment "has from the outset proceeded without any open bidding process or competitive selection — a closed-door, opaque push to send everything to Honam regardless." He called again for the government to cancel Monday's announcement, scrap the secretive policies pursued so far and decide the matter through fair competition.


yg@heraldcorp.com