The government officially announced its support for the Giheung area, where the semiconductor plant expansion had been confirmed, and for Pyeongtaek, where a new plant was to be built.

Along with that, saying it would ease the burden on the company in step with the scale of the investment being made, it promised a cut in corporate tax and a reduction to the minimum of the legal procedures — filings, permits and the like — required when expanding a plant.

In Pyeongtaek's case it went so far as to promise that a special team would be formed at city level and that no support would be spared so that the plant could be built at speed.

In some quarters there was talk of whether this government support was not preferential treatment.

But this dispute over favoritism died down in the end.

[Ilhyeon Electronics to execute 10 trillion in first-round investment]

[Some 50,000 jobs expected to be newly created in Giheung and Hwaseong]

[Nothing better for revitalizing the local economy, say residents, hopes running high]

[Hwaseong mayor promises to establish a fast track relating to the Ilhyeon Electronics plant expansion]

It was because, unlike most companies, they had not merely said they would invest and then taken only the benefits, but had actually carried the investment out.

Pyeongtaek helped secure the site by purchasing not only land the city held but the surrounding land as well, ahead of Ilhyeon Electronics.

Government, region and residents alike all came forward and showed themselves welcoming Ilhyeon Electronics' plant expansion and new investment with both hands raised.

But it was not that talk mixed with worry had disappeared.

—The scale of the investment is too large.

A university professor, appearing as a panelist on a broadcast, answered the question with a gaze full of worry.

—One hundred trillion in total, with a first-round execution of 10 trillion. It is a scale on which there is talk of the largest undertaking since Dangun. Not merely for a single company but even as a national-level undertaking, there has been nothing on this scale until now. There is…