OSAN — Osan, in Gyeonggi Province, is one of the province's smallest cities, covering about 42 square kilometers with a population of roughly 250,000. It is surrounded by cities of about 1 million people each, including Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, Suwon and Yongin. But on the map of the semiconductor industry, the picture changes. Osan sits on the corridor connecting major chip production bases, and it is one pillar of "Su-Yong-Seong-Pyeong-O-I" — Suwon, Yongin, Seongnam, Anseong, Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, Osan and Icheon — the semiconductor supremacy initiative laid out by Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae.
In an interview with The Seoul Economic Daily at the mayor's office on the 9th, Osan Mayor Cho Yong-ho said the city is quickly connected not only to major chip production bases such as Yongin, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, but also served by wide-area transport networks including the Gyeongbu Expressway, the Second Seoul Ring Expressway and the Pyeongtaek-Hwaseong Expressway. "We are not a city with large-scale production facilities, but we can serve as a hub for materials, parts and equipment and for research and development that links those production bases and supports corporate growth," the mayor said.
Cho, a former member of the 11th Gyeonggi Provincial Council, defeated incumbent Mayor Lee Kwon-jae in the June 3 local elections to become Osan's mayor for the ninth term of popularly elected local government. Cho's plan is to overcome the limits of a small city by drawing on its connections to neighboring large cities, and to grow it into a self-sufficient city with its own industry and jobs.
Osan is home to companies in chip manufacturing equipment, materials and parts, clustered mainly around the Gajang 1, 2 and 3 industrial parks and the Sema industrial park. An R&D facility of Applied Materials, the global semiconductor equipment maker, is also being built in the Gajang-dong area.
At the center of the city's future industrial strategy is the Segyo 3 district. Osan plans to secure enough land for self-sufficiency facilities to build an industrial base where chip materials and equipment firms, R&D operations and artificial intelligence companies can locate together. "This has to be developed as a self-sufficient city that holds jobs and industrial functions, not a city where only housing increases," Cho said.
Losing out to Anseong in the 2023 competition for a specialized cluster for materials, parts and equipment became an occasion to sharpen the city's strategy for attracting industry. "Geographic advantages and growth potential alone were not enough," Cho said. "You have to lay out specifics — the density of companies, the structure of cooperation with anchor firms, R&D functions and actual investment plans." The city plans to link its existing industrial parks, a new industrial park in the Jigot-dong area and the Segyo 3 district into a single industrial axis.
The Unamdeul AI City development project is another key issue. It ran into trouble when Hyundai Engineering withdrew from the project, but the city is continuing administrative procedures while reviewing the business structure and financing plans. "Stability matters more than speed," Cho said. "Once the direction takes shape, we will explain it to residents."
As the city grows, balanced development between the new town and the old downtown is also cited as a task to be resolved. In the Segyo 2 and 3 districts, transport, schools, community infrastructure and cultural and sports facilities will be expanded in line with move-in schedules, while the old downtown will be revitalized around Osan Station, Osaek Market and existing commercial areas. "The population and spending of the new town should flow into the old downtown, and residents of the new town should be able to use the administrative, commercial and cultural functions of the old downtown," Cho said.
The city is also pushing to expand wide-area transport. It is seeking KTX service from Suwon to stop at Osan Station, an extension of the Bundang Line from Giheung to Osan, and an extension of the GTX-C line to Osan, and is treating the relocation of a power feeding substation on the Indeogwon-Dongtan double-track railway as another key issue. To ease chronic congestion around the Osan interchange, the city plans to add high-pass lanes, build a grade-separated structure at the interchange and expand connecting roads.
Cho stressed that Osan's growth cannot be led by treating industry, housing and transport separately. "Developing the Segyo 3 district, expanding wide-area transport and building a base for the semiconductor and AI industries are tasks that cannot move apart from one another," the mayor said. "I will show through action that residents can feel the change on their commutes and find jobs within the city."
