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President Lee Jae-myung greets Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee as he enters the "Corporate Conference for Expanding Youth Jobs and Regional Investment" held at Cheong Wa Dae on February 4. / Courtesy of Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung met with Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee at Cheong Wa Dae on the 25th to discuss regional semiconductor investment plans, including the establishment of a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region. The meeting is interpreted as a final stage of fine-tuning for Samsung Electronics' large-scale regional investment vision ahead of a joint public-private meeting scheduled for the 29th to discuss national balanced development strategies.

President Lee reportedly met with Chairman Lee for over an hour this afternoon to exchange views on the matter.

Previously, President Lee also reportedly met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at Cheong Wa Dae on the 19th to discuss regional investment plans. As speculation grows that the regional investment blueprints of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix might be unveiled at the meeting on the 29th, Cheong Wa Dae appears to be accelerating advance coordination with the business community.

At the meeting scheduled to take place at Cheong Wa Dae on the 29th, plans for the Honam and Chungcheong region investments by companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, alongside the creation of the Honam semiconductor cluster, are expected to be made public.

Regarding the regional semiconductor cluster blueprint, Cheong Wa Dae Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-bum stated on the 24th, "We are approaching the final stages of discussion," and added, "Once finalized, we intend to arrange an occasion where corporations and ministries can gather to explain it to the public all at once."

The government is currently pushing forward a national balanced development strategy known as "5 Megaregions and 3 Special Autonomous Provinces," along with the construction of a southern semiconductor belt. The "5 Megaregions and 3 Special Autonomous Provinces" concept is a vision to decentralize the nation's growth engines around five ultra-wide economic zones and three special autonomous provinces.

The "Special Act on Strengthening and Supporting Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness," set to take effect this coming August, also includes semiconductor cluster support measures and administrative authorization exemptions that take regional balanced development into consideration.

President Lee also stated during his recent press conference marking his first anniversary in office, "We will leap forward into a super-gap industrial powerhouse where all citizens and regions equally enjoy growth opportunities and benefits," adding, "We will soon present a large-scale investment project to the public that will trigger a massive shift in our growth strategy."

Industry observers speculate that investments worth hundreds of trillions of won could flow into the Honam and Chungcheong regions, establishing a semiconductor cluster covering both front-end and back-end processes, alongside renewable energy infrastructure and an artificial intelligence (AI) industrial ecosystem. The possibility that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix might expand their existing semiconductor production hubs in the Chungcheong region is also being raised.

Forecasts also suggest that Chairman Chey Tae-won will visit Gwangju on the 30th, and Chairman Jay Y. Lee will visit Asan in South Chungcheong Province on the 2nd of next month, to outline their respective visions, including the establishment of semiconductor facilities and AI data centers.

                                                                                                       Park Young-hoon