Chung Jeung-sik Calls President Lee's 'Administrative Guidance' on Semiconductor Investment a 'Confession of Government Intervention'

People Power Party Floor Leader Chung Jeung-sik claimed today (June 29) that President Lee Jae-myung’s description of major corporations' semiconductor investments in the Honam region as "administrative guidance" rather than "abuse of power, coercion, or directives" is a "confession of government-led intervention, admitting that factory locations were decided by government interference and involvement."

During the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, Floor Leader Chung stated, "President Lee claimed that the CEOs made their decisions following persuasion requests from public officials."

He pointed out, "President Lee stated that the Korea Football Association must establish a strict monitoring and check system for 'operational transparency, fairness, and objectivity.' I fully agree with that. However, the very reason for the current controversy surrounding the creation of the Gwangju-Jeonnam semiconductor cluster is precisely because of those issues of 'transparency, fairness, and objectivity.'"

He continued, "We are not against semiconductor factories going to Gwangju and Jeonnam. In a situation where every region across the country is competing to attract semiconductor plants, we are asking whether the location was decided through a transparent, fair, and objective evaluation process based on the autonomous judgment of the companies."

He further remarked, "The fact that two competing major corporations simultaneously announced large-scale investment plans for the same location itself indicates that this project is a forced decision resulting from government intervention rather than the companies' autonomous judgment."

In addition, Floor Leader Chung criticized the President, saying, "President Lee attacked the opposition party by saying 'pigs see only pigs,' and spent the entire weekend pouring out comments on social media regarding the location of the semiconductor industry—a project vital to the nation's future—as if he were campaigning for an election." He added, "This is inappropriate behavior for a president. I hope he will cut ties with the Democratic Party's national convention, refrain from social media activity, and focus solely on state affairs."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.