President Lee Jae-myung: "Chungcheong Holds Infinite Growth Potential, Will Become a Hub Leading the AI Era"

President Lee Jae-myung stated, "The Chungcheong region possesses infinite growth potential," adding, "With strategic corporate investment and the government's firm commitment, Chungcheong will rise beyond being the center of South Korea's advanced industries to become a global hub of innovation that leads the AI era."

President Lee made these remarks during his congratulatory speech at the National Report on the Development Vision for Advanced Industries in the Chungcheong Region, held in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, today (July 2), after hearing presentations on investment plans for the region from companies including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Celltrion.

President Lee explained, "The four major advanced industries—semiconductors, displays, secondary batteries, and biotechnology—are core strategic industries that will determine the future of South Korea in the age of artificial intelligence. The Chungcheong region is where these four industries form a single ecosystem."

He continued, "Chungcheong embodies the dreams and hopes for balanced national development. The urgent journey of a great transformation, aimed at breaking the vicious cycle of overpopulation in the capital region and regional extinction, and reopening the growth engine for all of South Korea, began right here in Chungcheong."

He promised, "We will never miss this critical opportunity to align the hubs of balanced development with the hubs of advanced industry," adding, "The government will mobilize all available means to actively support these companies so that their bold decisions can bear fruit."

He further emphasized, "Through Chungcheong, we will realize a great transformation toward locally-led growth, where each of the '5 Mega-Regions and 3 Special Zones' builds its own independent industrial ecosystem and develops through competition."

The report was attended by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, and Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin, who presented their respective investment plans for the Chungcheong region.

Notably, Samsung announced its intention to invest 140 trillion won to establish Chungcheong as a "center for super-gap materials and components."

The investment plan includes 67 trillion won by Samsung Display in Asan, 56 trillion won by Samsung Electronics for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) fabs in Onyang and Cheonan, 9 trillion won by Samsung SDI for batteries in Cheonan, and 8 trillion won by Samsung Electro-Mechanics for package substrates in Sejong.

SK Hynix announced plans to invest a total of 100 trillion won in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, including 80 trillion won for the M17 fab to produce NAND flash memory and 20 trillion won for PNT7 to strengthen advanced packaging.

Celltrion Pharm announced plans to invest approximately 1 trillion won in production facilities for PFS (pre-filled syringes).

In the "Three Major Mega-Projects for South Korea" announced on June 29, the government and the business sector revealed plans to invest a total of 392 trillion won in the Chungcheong region (156 trillion won for semiconductors, 150 trillion won for AI data centers, and 86 trillion won for other sectors including displays, batteries, and biotechnology).

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