[Anchor]

The People Power Party has claimed that the government's "three mega-projects" are a case of "favoring the Honam region" and a "forced decision driven by government intervention," calling for a parliamentary investigation. The Democratic Party has launched a counterattack, demanding an end to "malicious smear campaigns and outdated regionalism."

Reporter Kim Bo-mi has the story.

[Reporter]

Regarding the government's announcement of the "three mega-projects," the People Power Party dismissed it, arguing that the core is the "Honam semiconductor cluster" and that the other projects were merely window dressing to dilute the focus on favoring the Honam region.

They claimed that while the government packaged the projects as voluntary investments by summoning heads of major conglomerates, it was actually a case of twisting the arms of businesses, calling it a declaration of a government-controlled economy where power seeks to take over the market.

[Chung Jeung-sik / Floor Leader of the People Power Party: The very fact that two competing major conglomerates announced large-scale investment plans for the same location simultaneously is a forced decision resulting from government intervention rather than the autonomous judgment of the companies....]

In particular, they launched an offensive by arguing that the Honam region lacks infrastructure such as electricity and water, and demanded that the site selection process be thoroughly uncovered through a parliamentary investigation.

Mayors, provincial governors, and lawmakers from the People Power Party in the Chungcheong, Daegu, and Gyeongbuk regions also held a series of "protest press conferences."

[Choo Kyung-ho / Mayor-elect of Daegu: This is closer to 'national fracture development.' It will be difficult to avoid criticism that this announcement was a political decision that once again divides the Yeongnam and Honam regions.]

In response to the People Power Party's relentless offensive, the Democratic Party counterattacked, calling it "a result of ignorance that fails to understand the survival strategies of global companies and a malicious attempt to hinder national growth."

[Han Byung-do / Acting Leader and Floor Leader of the Democratic Party: They are raising objections by bringing up outdated regionalism. The Democratic Party will take legal action without leniency against these malicious smear campaigns.]

They argued that during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration in 2023, the Jeonnam-Gwangju region was excluded from the "National Advanced Strategic Industry Specialized Complex" competition despite receiving the highest score, and urged them to "stop the old-fashioned politics that drags even national industrial strategies into regional sentiment."

(Reported by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video by Oh Young-taek)