A senior presidential official on Friday rejected skepticism that the southwestern Honam region may not have enough electricity supply capacity to power a government-envisioned semiconductor cluster in the region. Kim Woo-chang, presidential secretary for state artificial intelligence (AI) policy, made the remarks in his appearance on a radio program by state-run broadcaster KBS, days after the government announced plans to establish a chip cluster in Honam. Under the plan, the government aims to develop the country's second semiconductor cluster in Honam, in addition to the first one in the capital region, in a bid to preemptively secure chip production capabilities amid intensifying competition in the AI industry. Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Group, the parent group for SK hynix, have committed large-scale investments to the project. The semiconductor investment is part of the government's "three mega projects" initiative, which calls for large-scale investments in semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers. The chip cluster plan has drawn skepticism that the southwest region mig