멈춰 선 반도체 심장, 레미콘 파업이 드러낸 대한민국 산업의 아킬레스건 > 뉴스

The origin of this refusal to transport ready-mixed concrete lies in the traditional labor-management conflict issues of increased transport prices and recognition of the union's bargaining position. Initially, a provisional agreement was reached through mediation by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to increase transportation fees per synagogue, but the agreement was rejected in a vote by union members, intensifying the conflict again. In response, ready-mix concrete manufacturers are struggling to find a solution to the situation, saying they will change the existing integrated negotiation system to regional negotiations. In particular, ready-mix concrete has a fatal weakness in that there is no substitute for it due to its nature of having to be poured immediately after production, so any disruption in transportation directly leads to a shutdown of the construction site. Currently, the supply of tens of thousands of units of ready-mixed concrete is being disrupted at more than 100 sites, including 25 large construction companies, and the prevailing pessimistic outlook is that if the strike continues into next week, a complete halt to construction is inevitable.

As the spark of the ready-mix concrete strike spreads to semiconductor factories, a sense of crisis at the national level is growing. Semiconductor production bases located in Pyeongtaek and Yongin are engaged in a 'speed war' to accelerate the process speed to respond to the surge in memory demand. Construction companies are trying desperately to minimize damage by prioritizing processes other than concrete pouring, but at a semiconductor fab construction site where basic civil engineering and facility construction are the key, interruption of ready-mix concrete supply causes a chain effect that shakes the entire subsequent process. This is why six economic groups called for a reasonable solution through a joint statement. Semiconductors are the backbone of Korea's exports and the core of its economic security. If the basic material supply chain is disrupted and the national task of expanding production capacity is delayed, the damage will go beyond the corporate level and lead to a decline in national competitiveness.

Meanwhile, with this incident as an opportunity, fundamental concerns about the location strategy of domestic semiconductor production bases are once again rising to the surface. The fact that SK Hynix Chairman Choi Tae-won mentioned Japan as a candidate for a new production base shows the company's survival instinct to find a place with a complete power, water, and partner ecosystem, regardless of whether it is domestic or foreign. It has been revealed that the production belt currently concentrated in the southern part of the metropolitan area is very vulnerable to infrastructure overload and local risks such as this strike. Accordingly, some in the political circles advocate dispersing bases to regions such as Honam, but companies have no choice but to be extremely cautious in selecting a location because large-scale infrastructure and a concentration of partners are essential for front-end process fabs. Other local governments, such as Daegu, are also emphasizing infrastructure competitiveness to attract front-end process fabs and are taking strategic steps to aim for a larger economic ripple effect rather than simply attracting back-end process bases.

In conclusion, this incident clearly demonstrated the structural challenges that South Korea must address in order to maintain its title as a ‘semiconductor powerhouse.’ The global semiconductor market is like a battlefield where competition takes place at the second, but our internal industrial ecosystem is hampered by uncertainties in basic supply chain management and labor-management relations. The government must come up with practical measures to alleviate difficulties at construction sites, such as exemption from liquidated damages and improvement of the construction equipment supply and demand system, while also coming up with stronger and more reasonable mediation plans to prevent conflicts between labor and management from threatening the entire national economy. In addition, it is time for companies to consider diversifying their supply chains and strategic relocation of production bases to prepare for infrastructure risks, and for politicians to go beyond regional egoism and cooperate bipartisanly in building infrastructure that can maximize the production efficiency of the entire country.