JEONNAM-GWANGJU — Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City has stepped up work on a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region.
The target is clear: first mass production in June 2030. The scale is vast — about 800 trillion won ($576 billion) in investment and at least four memory fabs.
Kim Ki-hong, head of the city's semiconductor industry support team, laid out the progress of the Honam semiconductor cluster at a press briefing at the Gwangju government complex on the 22nd. The plan is to accelerate all of the cluster's core tasks at once — breaking ground on the site, supplying power, securing water, training workers and improving living conditions.
The project is a mega-scale semiconductor initiative pursued jointly by the central government, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. At its core is the construction of at least four memory chip production plants on about 2.5 million pyeong (roughly 8.3 square kilometers) of land being vacated by the Gwangju military airfield.
The city is moving fastest on securing the land. After finalizing the air base site on July 6, it completed the designation of the area as a candidate for a national industrial complex on July 29. On July 30, Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) was named preliminary project operator.
The city plans to first develop about 630,000 pyeong, including the planned relocation site for an ammunition depot, where construction could begin as early as 2027. To that end, it will ask the central government to create a special exemption allowing preliminary work inside the greenbelt.
Work on the power grid, the lifeline of a chip cluster, has also shifted into high gear. The city formed a working group on July 29 and on Aug. 12 signed a power supply agreement for the semiconductor mega-project with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, KEPCO, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
On Sept. 1, the power grid project won an exemption from a preliminary feasibility study. The city plans to start work on transmission lines in June 2027 and supply 3.1 gigawatts of power in a first phase by December 2028. The final supply target is 6.3 gigawatts.
Water is being lined up as well. The water supply project was granted a feasibility study exemption at a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 25. A joint committee on expanding the Dongbok Dam was formed on Sept. 18, and a briefing for residents is under discussion for October.
The city plans to supply an initial 150,000 tons of water a day by December 2028, eventually expanding that to 1.06 million tons a day.
Efforts to make the area a place where people want to stay are proceeding in parallel. The city has created a team dedicated to livability in the chip city. In the short term, it will improve housing and living conditions for construction workers. Over the longer term, it will design the infrastructure needed for workers and their families to settle.
A workforce strategy is also part of the plan. The city will build a tiered training system covering everything from advanced research and design talent to hands-on technicians, aiming for a cycle in which workers study, work and settle in the region.
To meet the June 2030 target for first mass production, the city will pull forward the schedule for core infrastructure as much as possible. It will also tap integrated fiscal support funds to back the cluster.
The city is working to build public support as well. Centered on a citywide citizens' committee launched on Aug. 24, it will hold forums, talk concerts, media outreach and policy briefings.
A timetable for relocating the military airfield was also presented.
The city plans to complete the transfer of the Gwangju airfield's base functions and their temporary relocation by July 2028, marking the start of full-scale execution of the land acquisition central to the Honam chip cluster. Muan County was selected on Aug. 28 as the candidate site for the relocation. The city is now working with Muan County on a support plan for areas surrounding the new site. It aims to finish the plan by October, followed by a public hearing and a local referendum. The target for selecting the final relocation site is November.
A revision of the relevant special act is also being pursued. The city and the Ministry of National Defense are moving to establish a legal basis for a build-transfer-and-grant arrangement and for central government funding.
"The airfield relocation is at the stage of drawing up a support plan for the surrounding areas," Kim said. "We are reviewing the support project plan submitted by Muan County, and we will discuss and cooperate with the county on it." He added: "The Honam semiconductor cluster is not simply an industrial park but a national project that will reshape South Korea's semiconductor landscape. We will make sure the target of first mass production in 2030 is achieved."
