SEOUL — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday urged the Defence Ministry to relocate the Gwangju military airbase by mid‑2028 to speed construction of a major semiconductor manufacturing cluster in the city, officials said.
Lee made the request at a meeting with company executives after his administration in June unveiled plans exceeding $576 billion that involve Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix expanding operations in the country’s southwest. The chosen 8.3 million‑square‑metre site was selected for its transport links and because the land was already levelled, a presidential official told Yonhap.
“The Defence Ministry should be able to temporarily move the functions of the Gwangju airbase to another base by mid‑2028,” Lee said, stressing the timeline as critical for meeting construction schedules and securing the region’s role in South Korea’s semiconductor strategy. Relocating the airbase would remove a major obstacle to siting multiple high‑tech fabrication plants that the government says are essential to bolstering supply‑chain resilience and sustaining global competitiveness.
Defence and local authorities have not yet announced concrete relocation plans or timelines, and the move could face logistical, budgetary and community hurdles. Industry leaders at the meeting signalled support for swift coordination between government agencies to keep the multi‑billion‑dollar project on track.