Gwangju Semiconductor: The Pros and Cons of Policy

This special feature aims to systematically track the development process of Gwangju's semiconductor policy.

The analyst explained, "It was so perplexing for people outside Gwangju that it absolutely had to be named Gwangju Semiconductor." This implies that explicitly mentioning Gwangju highlights the regional favoritism of the policy.

This background forms the basis for understanding the execution structure of large-scale government projects and industrial policies.

The relocation of the military airport has been considered a prerequisite for the creation of a semiconductor cluster. As this was a promise made by the government on an official stage, its fulfillment serves as a yardstick for judging the feasibility of the semiconductor policy.

It was made clear that not only simple financial support but also continuous policy backing is essential. The government reportedly promised continuous communication. However, this is just a promise, and the execution results are separate.

At the same time, there was a promise to grant the same status as Seoul. This creates a structure where Gwangju and Jeonnam rise to the administrative rank directly after Seoul. It is important that this integration, which reduces political positions, was agreed upon with this large financial support promise.

From a politician's perspective, local government integration is a loss of positions. Integration plans for Chungnam and Daejeon, and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam, also did not materialize. Only Gwangju and Jeonnam completed integration. The analyst raised the question, "Why did they rush it so much?" and believes that the support of up to 20 trillion won over four years became the actual incentive for integration.

The analyst pointed out that arguments like "Isn't it right to use electricity where it's produced?" are akin to the regional conflict framing of "Shut down the Seoul Metropolitan Area." This implies that for local production and consumption to actually work, semiconductor factories should be built next to nuclear power plants.

Stable and continuous power supply is absolutely essential. However, the Gwangju region has unstable rainfall, making it difficult to rely on hydroelectric power. Building a semiconductor factory next to a hydroelectric power plant in a region with inconsistent rain contradicts this reality.

For semiconductor production facilities to operate properly, good universities must also be present. The government created KEPCO KPS University, but there's no talk about it recently. This means that mere physical infrastructure is insufficient; an educational system that can continuously supply excellent talent is needed.

The government planned to create a dozen Seoul National University-level schools nationwide. As a result, only Chonnam National University, Pusan National University, and Chungnam National University were selected, and Kyungpook National University was excluded. However, simply giving money does not suddenly make students smarter. Professors might be pleased, but the correlation with improving student levels is weak. The reality that financial support does not automatically establish a causal link with educational outcomes was overlooked.

Rental businesses involve an enormous amount of physical time and effort due to dock construction, tenant complaints, and rain leak inspections. Even with just one property, there are many subtle complaints, and with multiple properties, 24-hour complaint handling becomes the main job. This implies the practical constraints that arise when attempting to change property ownership structures through policy.

This serves as an argument for tax normalization. It is a policy direction to offset the market impact of industrial policy through the tax system.

The analyst commented, "Instead of saying 'non-capital area,' I wish they would just specify 'southwestern region'," believing that clear regional designation reveals the will to execute policy.

The explanation is, "It's called relocation because it causes the relocation effect of semiconductor clusters in the Seoul metropolitan area." There are subtle differences in meaning hidden in the government's terminology, which can distort the actual scale and goals of the policy.

This implies that Gangwon Province would be a more advantageous location if a semiconductor industry were to be built based on hydroelectric power.

The government bestowing a title of national hero to business leaders who promise investments in non-capital regions demonstrates the government's commitment to policy implementation.

The government asserts that the state should act as a production platform supplying infrastructure for businesses. If only infrastructure needs to be supplied, why is the government trying to move semiconductors to Gwangju? At the same time, the government argues that production and distribution do not conflict. However, within the same document, defining the state's role only as a production platform and then suddenly introducing the concept of distribution lacks logical consistency. The analyst pointed out, "It's as if unrelated stories are popping up, making one wonder if they wrote it themselves," and believes it's merely a list of words, not logic at the sentence level.