President attends southwest advanced industry development vision forum

Pledges full effort toward 'irreplaceable Korea'

Invokes historic Honam saying to frame region's new opportunity

President Lee Jae Myung applauds a moderator's remarks at the Southwest Advanced Industry Development Vision Forum held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju on Monday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung applauds a moderator's remarks at the Southwest Advanced Industry Development Vision Forum held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju on Monday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung said Monday that South Korea's "Korean-style AI industrial revolution" would begin in the country's southwest region, congratulating residents of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province at a forum on advanced industry development held in Gwangju.

Lee referenced the government's "three mega-projects" announced the previous day — covering semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers — and said he planned to combine them with regional strategic industries to reshape the country's growth axis.

"I will devote every ounce of effort to spreading the innovation led by this southwest region across the entire country, and to building an 'irreplaceable Korea' that the world needs and no other nation can substitute," Lee said. He also invoked the historical saying "약무호남 시무국가" — meaning "without Honam, there is no nation" — saying that the discrimination the Honam region had long endured had in fact created a new opportunity.

"I regard this as a historical and national repayment to Honam, which built and defended Korea's democracy while enduring the pain and sorrow of discrimination without any compensation or reward," Lee added. "I will ensure its success without any setbacks."

Lee stressed that as countries around the world strengthen industry policies centered on their own interests, South Korea must also move beyond its Greater Seoul-centered growth structure and shift toward a region-led innovation model.

He spent considerable time explaining why the Honam region should be the destination for semiconductor investment worth 800 trillion won ($519 billion).

"Looking back, the southwest was already a prepared land," Lee said, citing the region's industrial base, energy infrastructure, and research and education ecosystem.

He promised that a dedicated team at Cheong Wa Dae under his direct oversight would manage the entire process to ensure projects would not be delayed by even a month after plans are announced.

Lee outlined the government's commitment to support. "We will make the construction of key infrastructure — land, power and water — an absolute national priority and see it through," he said, adding that regulations hindering investment would be comprehensively reviewed and that fiscal and tax support would be pursued boldly.

President Lee Jae Myung views an AI semiconductor exhibit while listening to an explanation from Kwak Noh-jung, CEO of SK hynix, at the Southwest Advanced Industry Development Vision Forum held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju on Monday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung views an AI semiconductor exhibit while listening to an explanation from Kwak Noh-jung, CEO of SK hynix, at the Southwest Advanced Industry Development Vision Forum held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju on Monday. [Yonhap]

Lee also stressed the need to restructure the country's industrial framework around the southwest region.

"Relying solely on the existing Greater Seoul-centered single production system leaves Korea without enough breath to compete with the rest of the world," he said. "Just as the two lungs of Pohang and Gwangyang once wrote Korea's great heavy industry story, our semiconductor industry too must breathe together — the metropolitan area and the regions — to advance in the global market."

Lee confirmed again that advanced memory chip production facilities, advanced packaging production facilities and AI data centers would be established in the region, reiterating that the "Korean-style AI industrial revolution, led by the regions and reaching out to the world, will begin right here in the southwest."

Lee also spoke directly about the southwest's locational competitiveness and industrial potential. "This southwest region holds the country's finest and largest reserves of renewable energy, including solar and offshore wind power," he said, adding that the area's locational advantages were outstanding and that it was rapidly connected to destinations at home and abroad via KTX rail and Muan International Airport.

"Above all, the southwest has a solid foundation for cultivating world-class AI and semiconductor talent right here," Lee said, citing the Gwangju National AI Data Center and talent development programs.

Lee also expressed gratitude to companies for their investment commitments.

"The government will provide firm backing so that companies' bold challenges and innovations can translate into clear results," he said, again pledging that a dedicated team at Cheong Wa Dae under his direct oversight would support the entire process to prevent any project from being delayed by even a month after plans are announced.

"The advanced industries of Korea, nurtured together by our people, have grown into global assets that the world now eagerly seeks out," Lee said. "We are now ready to use this proud achievement as a springboard for an even greater leap toward becoming a nation of unrivaled industrial supremacy."

The event was attended by Jeon Young-hyun, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, Kwak Noh-jung, CEO of SK hynix, and Lee Jin-an, CEO of Amkor Technology Korea, each of whom presented their investment plans for the southwest region.


sang@heraldcorp.com