South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance reviewed implementation of KRW 312 trillion in Yeongnam megaprojects at a task force meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Hyoung-il. The review examined companies’ investment progress and requests for support, alongside local governments’ progress on permits. It was Lee’s first time chairing the task force, following three meetings led by the ministry’s innovation growth office.
Lee urged local governments to accelerate permitting and pledged to address bottlenecks throughout the investment process, including outdated regulations and other obstacles. Relevant ministries will examine requests raised at the meeting, with the results to be reviewed at the next task force meeting.
The projects form part of a regional investment drive to build semiconductor, artificial intelligence (AI) data center and physical AI capabilities alongside Yeongnam’s established manufacturing industries. In his opening remarks, Lee linked the investment drive to regional growth disparities. Yeongnam’s real gross regional domestic product grew 23% between 2010 and 2024, compared with 57.4% in the capital region.