South Korean officials stated on Sunday that the relocation of a military airport in the southwestern city of Gwangju is being expedited, as the original site has been designated for the development of a major semiconductor industry cluster.

The allocation of the former Gwangju military airport site for this industrial cluster is part of the South Korean government's "three major key projects." These initiatives are focused on the large-scale regional deployment of semiconductor manufacturing, physical artificial intelligence, and AI data center industries.

A special committee comprising central and local government officials is scheduled to convene later this month to finalize potential new locations for the relocated airport. Muan County was listed as a preliminary candidate site in April.

The local government overseeing Gwangju anticipates that the new airport site will be finalized by the end of this year. The plan is to advance both the airport relocation and the industrial cluster construction simultaneously, with the goal of commencing semiconductor production by 2030.