Industry groups warned that essential infrastructure such as roads and industrial water remains insufficient at the Yongin semiconductor cluster, which is set to begin operating early next year, raising the risk of production disruptions. They urged the government and the National Assembly to accelerate infrastructure work and to address more than 40 policy issues aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of advanced strategic industries, including robotics, displays and batteries as well as semiconductors.
The Federation of Korean Industries said on the 21st that it had submitted 41 proposals on national advanced strategic industries — covering semiconductors, displays, batteries, biotechnology and robotics — to the Regulatory Rationalization Committee and the National Assembly. The federation asked the government to give priority to 20 of the proposals, which it said could be carried out without enacting or amending legislation.
The federation said chip plant investments of more than 1,000 trillion won (about $700 billion) are planned in Yongin and about 800 trillion won (about $560 billion) in the Gwangju and Jeonnam region, but that the expansion of essential infrastructure such as roads, water and power could lag. SK hynix is scheduled to start operating its first Yongin fab in February, when traffic is expected to surge as vehicles hauling materials and those working on construction of the second fab converge on the site. The main access road, by contrast, is unlikely to be completed before the first fab starts up. Business groups argue that the project should be included in the sixth national highway and local highway construction plan to move up its schedule.
The situation is similar for industrial water supply. A facility in Cheongju to reuse treated wastewater, with capacity of 35,000 tons a day, took a total of 42 months from project launch to groundbreaking, including 15 months of feasibility studies. The federation asked the government to create a special provision for advanced industry infrastructure in private investment procedures to shorten that period to within 18 months.
In the power sector, the federation identified improving certification and procurement conditions for carbon-free electricity through legal amendments as a key task, so companies can respond to demands from global big tech firms. It also called for allowing companies to purchase large-scale hydropower, an eco-friendly source, directly.
For robot developers, the federation proposed lowering regulatory barriers so that raw video and audio data — essential for humanoid robots to recognize and learn from their surroundings — can be used in secure testing zones after going through an approval process.
To support the display and battery industries, which require large-scale investment, the federation said the system should be improved so companies can use tax benefits as actual investment funds. Under the current tax credit system, deductions are subtracted from corporate taxes owed, making it difficult for companies that post losses because of heavy upfront investment to make immediate use of the credits.
