President’s remarks pit Yongin against southern regions over $680 bil. chip cluster

President Lee Jae Myung’s comments on relocating a semiconductor cluster to southern regions at Wednesday’s press conference have drawn mixed reactions, as some politicians have interpreted his remarks as a clear sign that the government wants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to move their factories from sites near the capital to southern parts of the country. While lawmakers representing southern regions welcomed his comments, the mayor of Yongin in Gyeonggi Province — the city where the cluster is located — criticized the president for adding uncertainty to the 1,000 trillion won ($680 billion) project. “Yongin residents had hoped the president would resolve the dispute, but his ambiguous stance will not calm the ongoing controversy over relocating the semiconductor industry,” Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il, a member of the main opposition People Power Party, said in a radio interview Thursday. “Although the president said he cannot overturn decisions made under previous administrations, he still raised questions about the supply of electricity and water.” At the nationally