South Korea debates water supply for Honam semiconductor projects

Plans for major semiconductor factories in South Korea's Honam region are facing scrutiny over water availability, with opposition parties raising concerns about potential shortages. Critics suggest that the region's water resources are insufficient, necessitating water imports or desalination.

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We have only neglected the water resources (of the Honam region). If managed properly, supplying 1 million tons of industrial water per day is possible.

However, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Minister of Environment, Climate, and Energy Kim Seong-hwan have countered these concerns. Yoon stated that South Korea has neglected its water resources in the Honam region, asserting that proper management could supply up to 1 million tons of industrial water daily. Kim added that by coordinating water levels across seven dams in the Yeongsan and Seomjin River basins, an additional 1 million tons of water could be secured.

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By coordinating the water levels of the seven dams in the Yeongsan and Seomjin River basins, we can secure over 1 million tons of additional water.

These arguments are supported by data indicating significant unused water capacity. A report on the Yongin semiconductor cluster noted that a single semiconductor plant requires approximately 137,000 tons of water daily. If two to three plants are built in Honam, the demand would be between 270,000 and 410,000 tons. However, reports show that in the Jeollanam-do province, only 29.3% of the permitted river water usage was actually utilized between 2015 and 2019. Governor Kim Yung-rok of Jeollanam-do also emphasized that ample unused water is discharged into the sea, suggesting that utilizing even a portion of this would be sufficient.

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There is an abundance of unused water in Jeollanam-do that is discharged into the sea. Utilizing even a portion of this water is sufficient.

Concerns about water quality are also being addressed. Governor Kim stated that technological advancements can effectively manage water quality, drawing parallels with Singapore's "Newater Project," which recycles even heavily polluted sewage for industrial use. He assured that Jeollanam-do plans to implement advanced purification and ion-exchange technologies, producing water cleaner than that supplied to semiconductor plants in the Seoul metropolitan area. Furthermore, water reuse within factories and the purification of surrounding wastewater are being considered, mirroring practices by companies like TSMC in Taiwan, which achieved a 90.3% process water recycling rate.

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It is a domain that can be sufficiently controlled with technology.