[Editorial] Hynix-Unfriendly Country

The government announced that it will not allow the expansion of lines 1 and 2 of Hynix’s Icheon factory, and that it will go over line 3, which will be built from 2009. Hynix’s amended proposal to expand line 1 in its Cheongju factory and line 2 in its Icheon factory was rejected.

Hynix plans to produce copper substrate wafers, and copper is one of 19 Specified Water Polluting Substances. The problem is that the government regulates copper and other inorganic matters by ingredients not by the total amount. The U.S., Japan, and EU regulate pollutants by emission.

“People need copper. We need to regulate based on standards,” said a worker at Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). Belatedly, the Ministry of Environment acknowledged the irrationality of the current regulations and decided to come up with a standard. This process takes at least 1-2 years.

Hynix has promoted its plan to expand the Icheon factory since the beginning of last year. The Ministry of Environment did nothing for a whole year, and just said that it cannot allow the expansion. Because of the government’s incompetence and ignorance, Hynix missed a prime time for investment in the semiconductor industry, which is called the timing industry.

“Expanding factories in the metropolitan areas will not be allowed but for exceptions,” said President Roh during his New Year’s speech.

The day after the president’s speech, Minister of Finance and Economy Park Byung-won said, “The Hynix issue is an issue of environment regulation rather than big companies’ expanding their factories in metropolitan areas.”

It all seems a pretext for not allowing Hynix to expand its factories because the president did not approve of it.

If the government had any intention to assist Hynix in expanding its Icheon factory, it should have corrected irrational environment regulations. With the incident, the government’s propaganda of being a business-friendly country proved to be false. The people are turning their back on the government because while it does nothing for businesses, it ironically calls for stimulating investment, creating jobs, and improving people’s lives.