Blue House Pushes for Enactment of Mega Special Zone Act This Year... 'Will Carefully Consider Exceptions to 52-hour Maximum Workweek Regulation'

[Financial News] The Blue House and the government have launched an all-out push to advance three major Mega Projects. To speed up large-scale regional investment, including the Honam Semiconductor Cluster, they plan to enact the "Mega Special Zone Act" within this year and shorten various permits, approvals, and environmental impact assessments. In the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions, corporate projects worth a combined 353 trillion won will begin construction or equipment expansion this year.
Kang Hoon-sik said this at a briefing at the Chunchugwan Press Center on the 10th, after the "2nd Joint Public-Private Review Meeting on Mega Projects" chaired by President Lee Jae Myung.
The government plans to identify, one by one, the obstacles that hinder investment, especially regional investment, and create a list of regulatory reforms to resolve them step by step. It also plans to push for the enactment of the Mega Special Zone Act within this year to shorten permits, approvals, and environmental impact assessments, while quickly putting in place infrastructure such as power, water, and transportation, as well as living conditions including housing and education.
However, it took a cautious stance on whether the 52-hour Maximum Workweek Regulation should be exempted under the Mega Special Zone Act. A senior Blue House official said, "This is only possible if local residents and the labor sector agree. It is not something the president can unilaterally direct, or the Blue House can direct on its own, so we are taking time to think it through."
Along with a new Mega Project task force to be established inside the Blue House, the Prime Minister’s Office will set up a "Mega Project pan-government support council" to coordinate cooperation among ministries.
Large-scale investment plans will also move into full implementation this year. Of the 392 trillion won investment plan for eight companies announced at the Chungcheong Region Public Briefing Session in early July, projects worth 246 trillion won by six companies, including SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Display, Samsung SDI, and Naver, will begin construction or equipment expansion this year.
In the Yeongnam Region, projects worth 107 trillion won by eight companies, including SK Group, Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDS, LG Innotek, LG Display, Hanwha Group, Hyundai Motor Company, and Doosan Group, will begin construction or expansion this year, out of a total 312 trillion won investment plan by 12 companies. A 57 trillion won research and development project is also scheduled to begin without delay this year.
The government also decided to establish consultation channels among the central government, local governments, and companies by region to quickly resolve corporate investment difficulties.
Samsung and SK, which attended the meeting, reportedly reacted positively to the government’s pace of implementation. Quoting business leaders, Kang said, "I was surprised to see things moving so quickly. It is truly something to be grateful for."
The Blue House will also promote win-win measures to spread the results of Mega Project investments across the broader industrial ecosystem, including the Materials, Parts, and Equipment Industry and small and medium-sized enterprises. In the semiconductor sector, it will pursue a 1 trillion won "Together Growth Project" over the next 10 years, in which large and small companies cooperate from technology development to demonstration and mass production.
To ease funding shortages for export-oriented Materials, Parts, and Equipment Industry companies, the government will provide 5 trillion won in Win-Win Trade Finance. It will also create a new semiconductor fund worth about 5 trillion won to focus investment on promising Materials, Parts, and Equipment Industry companies and fabless firms in the semiconductor sector.
Physical AI was also discussed at the meeting. Minister of Trade and Industry Kim Jeong-kwan reported that the government will actively create an early market by purchasing more than 1,000 units, including 700 humanoids and quadruped robots, by 2030.
In response, President Lee said, "That is not enough to create a Physical AI market," and instructed the government to "greatly expand the scale of public procurement based on demand surveys and build a robot ecosystem," Kang said.


[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter