Conflicts over the routing of power transmission lines are causing turmoil across the country. Korea Electric Power Corporation is pushing to build four high-voltage transmission corridors (345kV) — spanning the Sinyeongju to Sinjeongbu, Sinjeongbu to Sinyongin, Sinwonju to Dongyongin, and Bukcheonan to Singiheung sections — to supply electricity to the Yongin semiconductor cluster. Unlike in the past, emergency response committees have formed in every area under consideration as a candidate route, with local assemblies and environmental groups joining forces in firm opposition. The reasons behind residents' intense anger are plain to see.
The first is the one-sided sacrifice imposed on local communities. Not a single kilowatt-hour of electricity from these transmission lines will be delivered to the areas they pass through — all of it flows directly to semiconductor factories in Yongin. The enormous economic benefits and jobs go to the companies and employees at the Yongin cluster, while residents along the route bear the full burden of losses and risks: infringements on property rights, health and scenic views. It is a profoundly unfair arrangement.
The second is the erosion of procedural democracy. After the Miryang transmission tower crisis, the system was reformed to require that at least two-thirds of the members on site-selection committees be resident representatives. Yet the village council heads who were appointed did not even inform residents of their appointment, attending meetings in a personal capacity and speaking without regard for community opinion. It is entirely understandable that local communities are outraged by this deceptive process, which has stripped away genuine resident representation.
The third is opaque, behind-closed-doors administration and box-ticking formality. Residents learned that their communities had been included as candidate sites only about ten days before public briefings were held. Even as they set aside their livelihoods to make desperate appeals, the briefings served as little more than procedural formalities, with the project set to proceed as originally planned. The top-down development practices of the 1970s and 1980s are being repeated in South Korea in 2026.
Residents in the affected areas have said they would accept the lines if they were buried underground — a condition they present not as outright rejection of an unwanted facility, but as a minimum requirement for coexistence. Full undergrounding across all sections, without discriminating between urban and rural areas, is the right answer. It is technically feasible by making use of the East-West Expressway No. 5, which has either broken ground or is in planning, along with lightly trafficked three-digit local roads. Korea Electric Power Corporation has balked at the idea, citing costs five to ten times higher than conventional methods, but a range of financial solutions — cost-sharing based on the beneficiary-pays principle, the issuance of special bonds for transmission line construction, and the creation of dedicated funds — could make undergrounding financially viable.
The transmission line conflict is not a simple local grievance. It is a structural problem that neither Korea Electric Power Corporation nor any individual ministry can resolve on its own. The presidential office must now step in directly. Before this conflict escalates into an irreparable social divide, a decisive intervention and a bold remedy are urgently needed.
oskymoon@heraldcorp.com
