President Lee Jae Myung (center) salutes to the national flag in a meeting with his secretaries in Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. (Yonhap) President Lee Jae Myung is set to unveil a blockbuster project for South Korea's balanced economic growth at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday, where Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to announce their bids to build new plants outside the capital region.According to Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday, the two memory chipmakers, currently riding a global artificial intelligence boom, will announce their investment plan, followed by the government's presentation on the policy for "mega projects," at Cheong Wa Dae at 2 p.m.Ahead of the announcement, which would involve hundreds of trillions of won private-sector investment, Lee noted in a series of X posts that South Jeolla Province in the country's southwest would be an optimal site for the new chip plant.One of his posts showed that the country's underdeveloped southwest could be a game-changer for the semiconductor industry, which is experiencing overcrowding in the chip clusters in the Greater Seoul area."For the semiconductor industry, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power are crucial, especially with the advent of RE100 (regulations), in addition to water and electricity," Lee said on Saturday."However, the Greater Seoul area is already saturated, and the country's southwestern coast is where renewable energy is the most abundant. The underdeveloped southwest is the best, given its earthquake-free status and low cost of land."Another X post by Lee refuted claims that the southwestern region lacks clean water for chipmaking. Lee said Saturday that the water resource had been neglected for decades for "a political purpose," adding that up to 1 million metric tons of water would be available per day if proper infrastructure is built in the region."The southwest has as much water as the southeast or the Greater Seoul region," he said Saturday. "The government does not encourage companies to build chip plants in areas with insufficient water."Some of his X posts targeted the right-wing opposition parties that criticized the government for unilaterally pushing ahead with the plan without contemplation.In the latest, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party warned on Saturday that he would file a criminal complaint against the administration for abuse of power as soon as the chip investment plan is announced Monday. He claimed the administration was extorting chipmakers by forcing them to spend money in a specific region.In response, President Lee denied pressuring the companies, stressing it would be the private-sector companies' independent decision."This is not referred to as an abuse of power or coercive directives, but rather as administrative guidance or facilitative administration," Lee wrote on X.On Sunday, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan stressed that whatever the private-sector companies announce would be based on their independent beliefs."However, companies have long believed that the Yongin cluster alone is insufficient to adequately meet future global demand and engage in global competition. To secure additional production bases, (these companies) have been reviewing new candidate sites capable of providing large sites and stable power and water supplies," Kim said"Given the high land costs and limited infrastructure conditions in the Greater Seoul area, provincial regions emerged as a realistic alternative."Kim also pointed out that South Jeolla Province has been highly evaluated, thanks to its high electricity self-sufficiency rate, abundant water resources and excellent research and talent infrastructure, given that the province, together with Gwangju, is home to Chonnam National University, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology and the Korea Institute of Energy and Technology."This corporate decision is not merely a matter of building a single fab. It is an investment that takes South Korea's semiconductor competitive edge to the next level, as well as a national project that narrows the gap between the capital region and the provinces," Kim noted.Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig, floor leader of the People Power Party, also said on his Facebook page that the liberal administration was "strategically exploiting" the chip investment plan for its own advantage, as the ruling party is suffering an internal power struggle ahead of the convention in August.