"Gwangju gets the 800 trillion won semiconductor project, while the undesirable facility comes to Muan."
The agitated voices of Muan County residents gripped by such anxiety have not subsided.
Muan County is the candidate site for the relocation of Gwangju's military air base, part of the 800 trillion won plan by Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) to build a semiconductor fab complex in the Honam region. County Chief Kim San ultimately decided to again boycott the selection committee meeting held on the 28th to determine the air base relocation site.
The reason was clear.
Muan County's position is that following the administrative integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju, the designation of the Gwangju military air base site as the semiconductor cluster site has changed the development profits from the former site, and an alternative must therefore be presented.
Muan County maintains that its stance of active cooperation has not changed, from the air base relocation through the current semiconductor cluster development. However, it is raising its voice for the concrete implementation of three demands: the prior relocation of Gwangju's civilian airport to Muan International Airport, 1 trillion won in support from the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City and the government, and the provision of groundbreaking incentives at the national level.
Concerns continue both inside and outside Muan County that the burden from relocating Gwangju's military air base is significant.
The perception that the fruits of the semiconductor industry will be concentrated in Gwangju while Muan bears the noise and living damage is also cited as a factor raising the difficulty of negotiations. Accordingly, Muan County's position is that it is difficult to engage in discussions without a practical implementation plan for the preconditions.
Muan County, which was selected in April as a preliminary candidate site for the Gwangju military air base relocation, also did not attend a meeting to select the relocation candidate site on the 30th of last month.
The Ministry of National Defense had planned to hold a site selection committee meeting on the 28th to select Muan County as the candidate site and proceed with relocation procedures, but a setback has become inevitable.
Some point out that Min Hyung-bae, the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Mayor and a stakeholder who has considered Muan County's position, must present a sincere balanced development model along with an active stance for the region's future. The longer the negotiations for the Gwangju military air base relocation drag on, the greater the uncertainty for the 800 trillion won semiconductor race against time will inevitably become.
Meanwhile, County Chief Kim San has been expressing day after day the view that the success of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City depends on balanced development. "The integration of Jeonnam and Gwangju is not for the development of any single region, but a historic choice for Gwangju and Jeonnam to grow together," he said. "In terms of administrative continuity, efficiency, and balanced development, Muan's administrative functions and status must be maintained."
