President Lee Jae Myung, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won clasp hands at Cheong Wa Dae on June 29 following the announcement of corporate investment plans at a public briefing on three major mega-projects. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won clasp hands at Cheong Wa Dae on June 29 following the announcement of corporate investment plans at a public briefing on three major mega-projects. [Yonhap]

Plans to build a semiconductor industry cluster in the country's southwestern region — requiring up to 650,000 tons of industrial water per day — are intensifying calls for a wholesale redesign of South Korea's national water management system. AI semiconductor production demands vast quantities of ultrapure water (UPW) stripped of all contaminants, and experts say the existing framework, built around agricultural and residential supply, cannot keep pace with the needs of advanced industries. Critics add that the national water management master plan, drawn up only once a decade, cannot respond in time to rapidly shifting demand from sectors like AI and semiconductors.

The Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy plans to secure the water needed for the southwestern semiconductor cluster by tapping spare dam capacity, reallocating hydropower water and adjusting the agricultural water system. Options under review include revising water rights at Juam Dam in the Yeongsan and Seomjin river basins and converting agricultural water allocations to industrial use.

The farming sector, however, is pushing back against any plan that would reduce agricultural water to free up supply for industry. Advocates argue that water quality in the Yeongsan River is already too poor for easy agricultural use, making it fundamentally unfair to channel cleaner water to factories while leaving farmers with lower-quality supplies.

The same tensions surfaced earlier over the Yongin semiconductor cluster. That national industrial complex requires 1.07 million tons of water per day, forcing planners to revise the original supply scheme to draw not only from Paldang Dam but also from hydropower reserves at Hwacheon Dam. The pattern — retrofitting water plans after a major industrial site is already committed — keeps repeating itself.

Experts point to structural flaws in the water governance framework as the root cause. Since water management was unified in 2018, most functions — quantity, quality and flood control — have been consolidated under the Ministry of Environment, now the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy. Yet agricultural water, which accounts for more than 40 percent of total national water use, remains under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Rural Community Corporation. Every time planners try to convert agricultural water to industrial use, they must navigate inter-ministry consultations, slowing decisions and delaying policy execution.

Water policy that shifts with each new administration compounds the problem. The Lee Myung-bak government pushed the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. The Moon Jae-in government halted new dam construction and opened weirs. The Yoon Suk Yeol government launched plans to build 14 new dams, citing climate crisis preparedness — but the Lee Jae Myung administration has since canceled seven of them and said the remaining sites will go through a public deliberation process before any decision is made.

When the government revised its new dam construction plans last September, the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement criticized the reversal. The group said the same ministry and the same department had, until recently, been pushing to build 14 new dams on grounds of water scarcity caused by the climate crisis, only to now claim that large-scale industrial water supplies could be secured simply by adjusting existing water rights and improving dam operations. It said the about-face had badly damaged public trust in water policy.

The rigidity of the planning cycle is another concern. The national electricity supply plan looks 15 years ahead and is revised every two years, but the national water management master plan operates on a 10-year cycle. That means major disruptions — the explosive growth of AI and semiconductor industries, or accelerating climate change — cannot be quickly incorporated. The result is a recurring cycle in which ad hoc measures are cobbled together each time a new industrial complex is announced, and politically driven policy reversals pile additional burdens on local communities and ecosystems.

Experts say the focus of water policy must shift to encompass industrial competitiveness alongside traditional priorities. They call for a comprehensive national master plan that balances industrial, agricultural and residential water needs with environmental protection, and that institutionalizes social consensus on the principles and procedures governing how limited water resources are allocated.

Water is not a resource for industry alone, experts stress. How finite supplies are distributed — and who bears the resulting social and environmental costs — must be worked out through close consultation that weighs industrial competitiveness, local water rights, agriculture and ecosystem preservation together.

Lee Sang-ho, a civil engineering professor at Pukyong National University, said national-level support and a long-term budget investment plan for water infrastructure are essential for managing water over the next century. He noted that water supply dams managed by local governments often lack the financial resources and specialized personnel needed to respond quickly in emergencies such as flood-season releases.

Lee urged the government to draw up concrete plans and upgrade water resource facilities managed by national agencies and local governments alike, so the system can better respond to climate change and shifts in the industrial environment.

Yoo Jae-guk, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly Research Service, said a comprehensive water management master plan should serve as the top-tier framework — one that diagnoses regional water conditions and problems, forecasts future supply and demand, and sets sector-specific management strategies alongside phased investment plans. He called for a master plan that strengthens coordination across related projects including water supply, sewage, rivers, water reuse and disaster management, prevents redundant investment, enables efficient allocation of resources and allows clear prioritization of projects.

A construction site at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster general industrial complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
A construction site at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster general industrial complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

thlee@heraldcorp.com