[Reporter’s View] Naju City Proposes New Business to LG Chem, Cooperation Is the Key to Success

We Must Remember the 2018 Failure to Attract the High-Value Advanced Materials Research Center

Kim Yukbong, Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters reporter.

Naju City in Jeollanam-do is drawing up a new blueprint for mutual growth with the LG Chem Naju Plant, with which it has shared over 40 years of close cooperation.

As part of LG Group's management efficiency policy, some production facilities at the Naju Plant were downsized at the end of last year. In response, Naju City has established a strategy to attract eco-friendly new industries such as the battery industry, alongside the continued operation of the Naju Plant.

Accordingly, on the 4th, Mayor Yoon Byung-tae, in an unusual move for a local government head, visited the headquarters of a major corporation and personally delivered a letter to the LG Group management.

In the letter, Mayor Yoon expressed the concerns of local residents over the reduction of the plant's production lines and explained the energy industry-academia-research infrastructure, excellent transportation conditions, and business-friendly city policies, proposing the attraction of new businesses at the LG Group level.

Public opinion in the local community is expected to heat up gradually.

While there is positive public sentiment hoping for regional development synergy effects such as job creation through new business investments by large corporations, negative opinions coexist regarding the chemical plant located in the city center, suggesting that similar debates may recur over the new business attraction.

At this point, the Naju community should take a cautionary example.

Previously, in 2018, when LG Chem planned a 250 billion KRW high-value-added advanced materials research and development center and an expansion of an eco-friendly plasticizer plant, some unclear civic groups strongly opposed the permits, causing Naju City to delay approvals, and LG Chem eventually abandoned the investment.

Moreover, the then 7th-term Naju City administration selected the relocation of the plant for the construction of a new city hall and the creation of an administrative complex town as major policy tasks, effectively blocking the plant expansion.

If the advanced materials R&D center and eco-friendly plasticizer plant expansion had been realized, it was expected to create over 200 jobs.

However, due to the fierce opposition from biased civic groups and administrative misjudgment, local youth missed a valuable opportunity to join a major corporation.

From the perspective of the LG Chem Naju Plant, which has contributed significantly to local tax revenue and jobs as a pillar of the regional economy for over 40 years, being told to "leave" or "relocate within the district" is deeply hurtful, and plans to build an administrative complex building on LG Chem-owned land are utterly unreasonable. At that time, plant workers even showed collective resistance due to employment insecurity, including some who were Naju citizens.

With the plant downsizing, the current 8th-term Naju City administration has pulled out the card of attracting new businesses, and naturally regrets the policy decisions made at that time.

Since the launch of the 8th term, Mayor Yoon Byung-tae has emphasized "jobs" as the ultimate goal of city administration and has been actively promoting corporate attraction, including independently holding investment attraction roadshows in the metropolitan area since last year.

In particular, this year, the city is pushing forward the key policy of a "business-friendly city" to boost the pride of local companies and workers and to encourage additional investment and stable settlement.

However, there are concerns that the downsizing of some production facilities at the LG Chem Naju Plant might lead to a disappointing outcome such as the complete closure or relocation of the plant to another region.

Some local media, upon hearing Mayor Yoon's proposal to attract new businesses, have already started stirring public opinion by stating they will gather and share diverse views from civil society.

As seen in previous cases, civic movements that oppose unconditionally based on biased perspectives rather than scientifically verified facts must bear serious responsibility for the outcomes.

If the logic is to point out environmental pollution and safety issues without evidence, then no new factories should be built in Korea. This is an act of expelling jobs for young people.

As the era of regional extinction approaches, local governments are actively working to attract investment, a key to economic revitalization. It is not unusual for local government heads to visit companies and conduct investment sales.

If LG Group's philosophy, technology, and experience are combined with Naju's future-oriented advanced industry and research facility infrastructure, the synergy will be powerful.

This will not only enhance Naju's image as a global strong small city advancing as an energy capital but also provide hopeful jobs for current plant workers and young people living in the region.

Timing is crucial in investment attraction. Naju City, LG Chem Naju Plant, and residents must find ways for mutual development.

Naju = Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yuk-bong baekok@asiae.co.kr

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