"Regulations on Semiconductor Cluster Entry for Local SoBuJang Companies Should Be Eased"

Yongin City Requests Ministry of Land to Ease Metropolitan Area Regulations
Demands Allowing Occupancy Only for 'Expansion,' Not 'Relocation'

Yongin Special City in Gyeonggi Province has proposed to the government to ease regulations in the Seoul metropolitan area to revitalize the semiconductor cluster.

On the 15th, Yongin City announced that it requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport not to apply metropolitan area regulations if semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) companies located in provinces wish to move into the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster being developed in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, through factory expansion.

A bird's-eye view of the 'Yongin Semiconductor Cluster' being developed in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Earlier, in March 2019, when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport allocated special quotas for the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster general industrial complex, the city restricted the entry of companies based outside the metropolitan area due to concerns about job reductions in the provinces.

However, last month, Yongin City explained the need for regulatory relaxation, stating that Yongin was designated as a government semiconductor specialized complex and that provincial SoBuJang companies are currently hoping to move into the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster under development.

Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin recently met with a senior official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and emphasized, “To overcome the national semiconductor crisis, it is necessary to build a value chain encompassing the entire semiconductor manufacturing process centered on the ‘Yongin L-shaped semiconductor belt.’ As one way to enhance the competitiveness of semiconductor SoBuJang companies, it is necessary to allow these companies to expand their factories in the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster.”

The mayor stated, “From the perspective of national balanced development and maintaining jobs in the provinces, relocating factories from provinces to Yongin should not be allowed, but regulatory requirements should be relaxed for factory expansions.”

He particularly noted, “With the establishment of the advanced system semiconductor national industrial complex in Idong and Namsa-eup, Yongin will have the world’s largest semiconductor ecosystem. Innovative government support must follow to enable semiconductor SoBuJang companies to achieve agglomeration and actively operate in Yongin.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.