South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung unveils $800 billion Honam chip investment and orders overhaul of overdue debt

President Lee Jae‑myung chaired a Cabinet and emergency economic meeting at the Blue House on July 30, announcing a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region valued at about 800 trillion won (roughly $800 billion). The project involves Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix building four new fabs, and Lee pledged active government support, urging political parties to cooperate and noting the investment as a turning point for a region historically sidelined.

Lee also addressed long‑term overdue bonds held by the public asset manager CAMCO, describing them as a "life‑long iron chain" for borrowers and ordering their elimination. He criticized private “bad banks” for harsh debt collection and instructed the finance ministry to develop a plan to resolve the public‑sector bond backlog. Additionally, the president called for the conversion of unused card‑point and membership‑reward balances into local‑currency vouchers to boost private consumption. The meeting covered a range of economic measures aimed at stabilising regional development, consumer spending and financial fairness.