[Column by No Dong-il] What Is the 'Mission' of Gwangju Semiconductors?

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, recently said during his visit to the Republic of Korea that "mission is the boss." The phrase reflects his long-held belief that a company’s reason for being and ultimate goal must come before internal power struggles or politics. The same applies when looking outward. In the fierce global race for technological dominance, companies must move only by hard market logic and the mission of securing world-class competitiveness.
Does the current controversy over the so-called Gwangju semiconductor project involving Samsung Electronics and SK hynix fit that mission? Their mission is to strengthen world-leading semiconductor competitiveness and defend technological supremacy. With advanced technologies evolving by the day and competition from the United States, China, and Japan closing in, all resources and decisions at our companies must be optimized to achieve that goal. For semiconductor firms, which are strategic national assets, non-economic considerations should play no role.
There is no reason to say that Gwangju itself is the problem. If key conditions such as land, water, power, and labor are met, the government’s industrial policy can be justified on grounds of national security and balanced regional development. But arguments that try to justify the Gwangju semiconductor project through claims of neglect in Honam only invite suspicion that the investment decision was driven by political considerations. Companies are cautious. They have made remarks that can be interpreted as completing production lines in Yongin first and then investing in Gwangju. The political side tells a different story. It says the companies were persuaded to decide to move forward with both Yongin and Gwangju at the same time. Financial objections are already being raised, starting with whether there is enough funding to make more than 800 trillion won in investment within a government term of less than four years.
The government says it aims to complete the project within the current administration’s term, citing TSMC’s plant in Kumamoto as an example. TSMC’s first plant in Kumamoto began operations at the end of 2024, three years after Sony and TSMC formed a joint venture in 2021. The decisive factors were the abundant groundwater from Mount Aso and the prospect of stable power from Kyushu Electric Power’s nuclear plants. Kumamoto Prefecture completed farmland conversion and environmental impact assessments, which usually take more than two years, in just four months through a dedicated task force. That is the benchmark. The Democratic Party’s main support base includes environmental groups that advocate nuclear phaseout, oppose the Four Major Rivers project, and call for dismantling weirs. Can it make a dramatic policy shift, such as building dams in the Yeongsan River region and constructing two nuclear plants instead of unstable renewable energy? If the government can complete site selection and environmental reviews in four months and remove concerns over water and power, views on the Gwangju semiconductor project would change dramatically.
President Lee Jae-myung referred to "Lee Jae-yong’s decision" and "the late Lee Byung-chul’s Tokyo Declaration." In the past, projects could be pushed through by the Blue House’s guidance and a conglomerate chairman’s resolve. That is no longer the case. Under the revised Commercial Act passed by the Democratic Party, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix’s investment in Gwangju semiconductors falls under Article 393, Paragraph 1, which covers "important business execution" and therefore requires a board resolution. In addition, under Article 382-3 of the Commercial Act, directors must record in the minutes whether they deliberated for the "overall interests of the company and its shareholders." Otherwise, it will be difficult to avoid legal risks such as breach of trust. The so-called Yellow Envelope Act is also a problem, as it makes not only "determination of working conditions" but also "management decisions that affect working conditions" subject to labor disputes.
The reality of the global semiconductor war turns such debates into the noise of "a frog in a well." The United States is using the CHIPS Act, along with tax incentives, subsidies, and tariffs, to attract semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Japan is nurturing Rapidus Corporation, formed by eight major companies including Toyota and Sony, into a national semiconductor champion. The Japanese government has entered the semiconductor war directly, investing 250 billion yen in Rapidus in addition to subsidies. In China, the global DRAM market share of ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), the country’s largest DRAM maker, jumped from 3% to 8% in just one year, while Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd.’s NAND flash share rose from 8% to 13% over the same period. There was even a report that "Apple is negotiating chip purchases with CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies." China has already overtaken us in advanced industries such as display, solar panels, and batteries. If our companies are bogged down by political infighting while China’s semiconductor rise becomes reality, cries of "even semiconductors" could erupt at any time.
The mission of Gwangju semiconductors cannot be compensation for claims of neglect in Honam. It must be an investment that helps Republic of Korea semiconductors secure and maintain world-leading competitiveness. Instead of telling people to stay silent in the face of widespread concerns and questions, the government, companies, and experts should verify the facts together and provide honest answers.
dinoh7869@fnnews.com Reporter