President Yoon Calls for Accelerated Relocation of Gwangju Military Airport

President Yoon urges expedited timeline for Gwangju military airport relocation

President Yoon Suk Yeol directed on September 29 that the timeline for relocating the Gwangju military airport, a key prerequisite for establishing a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, be accelerated. He stated that the currently proposed mid-2028 timeline is too late and instructed officials to revise relevant laws and guidelines if necessary.

The government plans to utilize the Gwangju military airport site to develop a high-tech semiconductor industrial complex. President Yoon received reports from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Environment regarding the site development and the supply of water and electricity.

The living conditions for residents were also a major topic of discussion. President Yoon emphasized the need to establish housing, education, healthcare, and cultural facilities from the initial stages of industrial complex development. In response to concerns raised by Samsung Electronics regarding the recruitment of foreign professionals, he directed a review of expanding the schools eligible for the 'K-Tech Pass'.

Blue House: Difficult to discuss response to DMZ landmine incident until investigation is complete

The Blue House stated that it is challenging to discuss specific response measures regarding the recent landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) until the military's investigation is concluded.

Chief Blue House Spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong said on September 29, "We will take necessary actions after a thorough investigation of the facts is completed." The military has reported that the landmine involved in the incident is highly likely to have been planted by North Korean forces, but further investigation is needed to determine whether it was intentionally placed or lost.

During a National Assembly Defense Committee meeting, Defense Minister Kang Shin-cheol suggested that the incident could be viewed as a violation of the armistice agreement, but the Blue House refrained from confirming whether the president shares this assessment. They also stated that they would respond to the discovery of additional landmines in the area after reviewing the investigation results.

81.8% of citizens view North and South Korea as separate nations; only 39% see need for unification

More than 80% of citizens perceive North and South Korea as practically separate countries. According to the '2026 Unification Awareness Survey' released by Seoul National University's Institute for Unification and Peace Studies on September 29, 81.8% of respondents stated that they view the two Koreas as essentially independent nations.

The percentage of respondents who believe unification is necessary has dropped to 39.0%, down from 63.8% in 2007. Conversely, the response indicating satisfaction with the current situation reached 31.5%, the highest since the survey began.

However, distrust towards the North Korean regime has intensified. A staggering 90.4% of respondents believe that North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons, and a significantly higher proportion identified 'peaceful coexistence and peace establishment' as the primary goal of North Korea policy over 'unification'.

HBM prices expected to double next year due to supply shortages; 8-layer HBM gaining traction

Due to increased demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a shortage of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is expected to persist into next year. Market research firm TrendForce projected on September 29 that the average selling price of HBM will rise by 121% by 2027 compared to this year.

The tight supply situation, coupled with an increase in the proportion of high-priced HBM4 products and the anticipated ramp-up of HBM4E production in the second half of next year, is contributing to the price surge. Additionally, the limited production capacity for advanced DRAM processes and wafers is exacerbating supply constraints.

GPU and custom semiconductor companies are considering the use of 8-layer HBM instead of 12-layer HBM. This approach allows for more chips to be supplied with memory using the same HBM production volume, although the price per capacity for 8-layer products is expected to be 10-20% higher than that of 12-layer products.

* This article has been translated by AI.