South Korea selects Muan County for Gwangju Air Base relocation to enable semiconductor cluster

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) -- A government selection committee finalized Friday its designation of a southwestern county as the site for a military air base relocation from the neighboring city of Gwangju, a decision that clears the way for an expedited build-out of a major semiconductor cluster.

The committee, led by the defense ministry, finalized an earlier decision designating Muan County as the new site for the Gwangju Air Base, home to the 1st Fighter Wing, following a meeting joined by municipal government officials, the ministry said in a release.

"The final designation of Muan County as the relocation site puts the Gwangju base relocation project into full motion, laying the groundwork for a swift process in cooperation with relevant agencies," the ministry said.

The latest decision clears the way for the government to accelerate its push to build a vast semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) cluster in Gwangju and surrounding regions, an 800 trillion-won (US$582.9 billion) project joined by Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc.

The government picked Muan in April as the candidate site for the Gwangju Air Base relocation. The air base currently shares runways with a civilian airport, whose commercial operations are expected to move to Muan ahead of the military units.

However, the proposal has faced pushback from Muan residents, who raised concerns over noise pollution and safety risks while expressing skepticism over government support pledges.

With Friday's decision, the government will be able to launch a joint commission with municipal governments to proceed with the relocation plan in earnest, including drawing up detailed plans for incentives and other forms of support for affected regions.

"While we take swift steps for follow-up procedures, we plan to flesh out the '1 trillion-won-plus' comprehensive support package for the development of the Muan County," the ministry said.

The county welcomed the decision while stressing that key conditions for the relocation plan must be fulfilled to secure residents' trust.

"The prior relocation of Gwangju's civilian airport to Muan International Airport, the concrete implementation of a 1 trillion-won support package and substantial incentives from the central government must be implemented and formally documented," the county said in a press release.

Under the relocation plan, the 1st Fighter Wing, which houses key flight training squadrons, will temporarily move its operations to three different bases in North Gyeongsang, North Chungcheong and South Chungcheong provinces.

Two of the training squadrons fly the T-50 advanced jet trainers to train fighter pilots, while the other unit operates the indigenous TA-50 Block-2 light attack aircraft in defense of the country's southwestern airspace.

The relocation plan of the squadrons came on the heels of President Lee Jae Myung's directive to quickly disperse the units' operations to other military bases by mid-2028 to speed up the process.

As the government aims to complete the construction of the new Muan air base by late 2032, the key Air Force training units are expected to be stationed at temporary facilities for the next four years at least.

However, concerns linger over dispersing the military units and their functions across temporary locations.

A local media outlet reported Friday that temporary aircraft hangars to be built at the Chungcheong bases will lack ballistic missile shielding, citing an Air Force document submitted to an opposition lawmaker.

Offices for pilots and maintenance personnel will be constructed in "modular" structures short of chemical and biological protection, according to the media report.

The defense ministry said the temporary setup will maximize the use of existing infrastructure at the host bases, with new structures to be built only when necessary.

"We are working with the Air Force to minimize disruptions to our defense readiness and pilot training," the ministry said.

Aside from the temporary deployment, the relocation plan also entails a process that requires consultations with the U.S. military sharing the Gwangju Air Base.

The air base currently operates as a collocated operating base, from which the U.S. Air Force can deploy its assets in the event of a contingency. The South Korean government has provided land to the U.S. forces under the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement.

The defense ministry said earlier it is working closely with the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to ensure an early return of land provided to the USFK.