Labor and Civic Groups Launch Joint Action to Block Mega Special Zone Act: "Projects Must Be Fully Reconsidered"

[Financial News] Labor groups and civil society have defined the government's Three Mega Projects as initiatives favoring large corporations at the expense of workers and local residents, and have launched a joint effort to block them.
The Joint Action to Block the Mega Special Zone Act and Condemn the Three Mega Projects, joined by more than 100 groups including the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and Green Korea United, held a launch press conference on the 22nd in front of the Cheong Wa Dae fountain in Jongno District, Seoul.
The Three Mega Projects are large-scale initiatives being pursued by the government to foster the semiconductor industry, physical artificial intelligence (AI) and AI data centers. The government is seeking to enact the Mega Special Zone Act within the year to support these efforts as part of its plans to strengthen the competitiveness of advanced industries and promote balanced regional development. The plan calls for designating key growth hubs and providing regulatory exemptions along with financial, fiscal and infrastructure support.
However, proposals to allow exceptions to the 52-hour workweek for high-income research and development and managerial workers within the zones, as well as to waive the obligation to pay overtime, night-work and holiday-work allowances, have emerged as contentious issues. Extending the maximum employment period for fixed-term workers and expanding the range of jobs eligible for dispatched workers are also under discussion.
In its launch declaration, the joint action described the government's plan as "an unprecedented 'declaration of development frenzy' that channels all of the nation's resources and institutions toward profit-seeking by a small number of large corporations and capital." It added, "It is a comprehensive package of deregulation that dismantles all at once the social consensus our society has built over decades. What is needed now is to halt discussions on the Mega Special Zone Act and fully reconsider the Three Mega Projects."

Regarding plans to shorten the periods for various impact assessments, including environmental, traffic and disaster impact assessments, or process them through "one-stop approval," the joint action pointed out that they "would undermine the essential functions of each system and serve only 'rapid industrial complex construction,' resulting in devastating effects on our society's environment, transportation and disaster prevention systems." It also voiced concern that the "deemed-approval system," under which an application is considered approved if an administrative agency fails to respond within the deadline, could itself undermine the assessment process.
It was also argued that local residents' voices were being excluded during the construction of power plants, dams and transmission lines needed to supply electricity and water.
Yoo Seung-wook, representative of the Emergency Countermeasures Committee for LNG Pipelines in the Wonsam Area, explained, "Of the four schools in Wonsam-myeon, high-pressure pipelines are being buried in front of three, but residents were not informed, nor were the schools notified." He added, "The entire route of the LNG pipeline construction currently underway in the Wonsam area must be reconsidered."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) will hold the first working-level meeting of a "one-point social dialogue on the Mega Special Zone Act" that afternoon. Working-level officials at the director level from relevant ministries, the two major labor federations, the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will attend.
Earlier, on the 18th, deputy-level representatives of labor and management, vice minister-level officials from relevant ministries and a standing committee member of the Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC) held preliminary consultations. The tripartite dialogue involving the KCTU is the first in six years since the one-point talks held in 2020 to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.
[email protected] Park Seong-hyun Reporter