Choi Tae-won's visit to Honam semiconductor site sparks claims of “pressure on businesses” vs. “the National Assembly is making threats”

[Financial News] The ruling and opposition parties clashed at a parliamentary audit on the 12th over SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won’s visit to the site of the Honam Semiconductor Cluster. The People Power Party raised suspicions that the visit came under pressure from the government and ruling party, and called for Choi to appear as a witness at the audit. The Democratic Party of Korea countered that it was the opposition that was threatening businesspeople.
At the day’s parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea Electric Power Corporation and others, People Power Party lawmaker Koo Ja-geun, referring to Choi’s site visit, argued, “The government and ruling party keep saying they have never twisted a company’s arm, but that’s tantamount to admitting that President Lee Jae-myung is behind it.”
Koo took issue with the fact that Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Mayor Min Hyung-bae criticized the possibility of SK Hynix pulling out of its Honam semiconductor project or slowing its pace as an insult to President Lee at the Gwangju Economic Forum on the 30th of last month. Koo’s point was that pressure from the government and ruling party may have played a role in Choi’s subsequent visit to the site.
Koo again called for Choi to appear at the parliamentary audit. He said, “With the audit in full swing, Chairman Choi says he absolutely cannot appear before the public, yet he rushed over at one remark from Mayor Min. Isn’t that behavior meant to taunt Parliament and the public?” He added, “No one knows which cloud may bring sunshine and which may bring rain.”
Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Jin-wook countered, “This is a textbook threat. Isn’t it telling them to be on their best behavior because the administration could change?” He added, “Is the National Assembly threatening businesses?”
Jung stressed that Choi’s visit could help dispel the local community’s doubts about investment in Honam’s semiconductor industry. He said, “If the National Assembly comments on every little thing entrepreneurs do when they go to a site and work, companies will stop looking at the world and look only to the National Assembly.”
Over Choi’s site visit, the opposition raised suspicions of government pressure on businesses, while the ruling party objected to excessive political interference in normal business activities, bringing Honam semiconductor investment to the fore as an issue in the parliamentary audit.

[email protected] Kim Gyeong-min Reporter