President Lee Calls Hyundai's 9 Trillion Won Saemangeum Investment "Massive," Refutes Claims of "Neglecting Jeonbuk"

President Lee Jae-myung described Hyundai Motor Group's plan to invest approximately 9 trillion won in the Saemangeum area as a "massive scale" project.

This was a direct rebuttal to the "Jeonbuk neglect theory" raised by some, who argued that the investment amount for the Jeonbuk region was relatively too small compared to the recently announced "3 Major Mega-Projects."

President Lee received a report on the specific progress of the Saemangeum investment project today (July 16) during a work report meeting he presided over at the Blue House Yeongbingwan, involving the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (including the Multifunctional Administrative City Construction Agency and the Saemangeum Development Agency), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (including the Rural Development Administration and the Korea Forest Service), and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (including the Korea Coast Guard).

During the session, President Lee stated, "The details of Hyundai's investment are, in fact, on a massive scale," adding, "However, because there was talk of 800 trillion won being invested elsewhere, it seems a tendency has emerged to think, 'What is this?' regarding the Saemangeum investment."

He then asked rhetorically, "(9 trillion won) is an estimate of the initial input costs, and wouldn't investments increase by several times or even dozens of times if the project expands successfully?"

He continued his criticism, saying, "Ordinary citizens might think, 'They are investing so much elsewhere, but is this all we get?' However, it is a real problem for those in positions of responsibility to make strange remarks about this."

President Lee emphasized, "(The Honam semiconductor cluster) is a matter where Samsung or SK made policy decisions based on economic logic, staking the fate of their companies; it is not a matter of establishing a public enterprise," adding, "It is not something that can be approached by adding one more thing just because people feel disappointed."

He further stressed, "What kind of solution comes from making people feel disappointed by talking about things that are impossible to realize? This is what we call irresponsibility. Irresponsibility."

President Lee added, "The primary virtue of a public official is to take responsibility. The worst behavior is to say things you cannot take responsibility for just to make someone feel good, only to create a worse situation later," and asked, "I assume you don't mean that (the Saemangeum investment project) is unnecessary, right?"

(Photo: Provided by the Blue House Press Corps, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.