Rural water and environmental concerns
The expansion of advanced industrial facilities, including artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and semiconductor clusters, is generating a series of disputes over water and the environment in rural areas. In Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, residents are opposing an AI data center over concerns about harm from its substantial electricity and water consumption. In Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, farmers and the local government are at odds over the possibility of semiconductor effluent contaminating irrigation water. This article examines the conflicts between fostering advanced industries and protecting the agricultural environment.
Hongseong County pursues data center construction; projected consumption equivalent to 54% of electricity use and 11% of water supply; environmental groups and farmers call for a complete halt; concerns include irrigation water shortages and other adverse effects.
Local environmental groups and farmers have called for a complete halt to an AI data center that Hongseong County has decided to attract to the Naepo New Town Urban High-Tech Industrial Complex. They argue that the facility would consume substantial amounts of electricity and water and could cause harm through noise and urban heat island effects.
The Yesan-Hongseong Federation for Environmental Movement and the Nongbon Public Interest Law Center held a press conference in front of the Naepo New Town industrial complex site on October 26. They demanded that “Hongseong County immediately halt and comprehensively reconsider its rushed pursuit of an AI data center that threatens residents' lives and the agricultural environment.”
Hongseong County previously signed an investment memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Optimus CDC in September and announced plans to attract a 600 billion won AI data center by 2029 to a 14,130-square-meter (4,274-pyeong) site designated for industry-academia cooperation within the Naepo industrial complex.
According to the press conference statement, the facility, which passed a power system impact assessment with an installed capacity of 80 MW, would consume 630 GWh of electricity annually if operated at a utilization rate of 90%. That would exceed 54% of Hongseong County's total annual electricity consumption of 1,149 GWh. Using water cooling would require 1.13 million tonnes of water annually, equivalent to 11% of the county's total water supply in 2024.
The groups expressed concern that large-scale water consumption in Hongseong County, which receives tap water from Boryeong Dam, could exacerbate water shortages in nearby areas. They also raised the possibility of water pollution from cooling wastewater, noise and urban heat island effects. They argued that the local economic benefits would be minimal because the 600 billion won investment would create only 50 jobs.
Hwang Seong-ryeol, head of the Chungnam Federation for Environmental Movement, criticized the approach, saying, “The proliferation of data centers pursued on the premise of attracting them first, without measures for electricity and water, threatens local safety.”
Ha Seung-soo, head of the Nongbon Public Interest Law Center, criticized proceeding without gathering residents' views, saying, “There has not even been verification of whether the developer has actually secured leasing demand from overseas big tech companies or has the ability to raise financing.”
Jang Gil-seop, 66, who grows rice on three hectares in Hongdong Township, expressed concern: “This year's autumn drought has even reduced rice yields. If an AI data center that uses vast amounts of water is built without sufficient examination of irrigation water shortages, we do not know what damage it could do to agriculture.”
Meanwhile, the government is accelerating the expansion of AI data centers. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced measures to support the AI data center ecosystem at the second meeting of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, chaired by the president, on October 23.
Local governments also continue to compete to attract facilities. South Chungcheong Province and Boryeong plan to invest 2 trillion won by 2029 to build a 100 MW-class AI data center in Boryeong's Ungcheon Industrial Complex. Sejong is also pursuing construction of a 100 MW-class data center worth 1.8 trillion won. This has prompted concerns that local disputes over securing electricity and water and over environmental harm could spread.
Hongseong County says the project remains at the MOU stage and that it will examine environmental impacts and community acceptance as the project proceeds.
A Hongseong County official explained, “The MOU signed at present is only an agreement on an investment plan. The site belongs to Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and the company has neither completed payment for the land nor received ownership. Once formal permitting procedures begin, we will comprehensively examine environmental impacts, including water and electricity, and issues of community acceptance.”
Dispute over semiconductor effluent and Gosam Reservoir
Semiconductor wastewater discharge into reservoir approaches; dispute emerges between Anseong and farmers; strong calls to cancel the coexistence agreement in full; demands for measures against soil and water pollution.
Anseong and local farmers are at odds over the planned direct discharge of effluent from the SK hynix semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, into Anseong's Gosam Reservoir. After Anseong Mayor Kim Bo-ra announced plans on October 23 to renegotiate the existing coexistence agreement, women farmers in Gosam Township, who have demanded its complete cancellation, held a protest rally on October 26.
In 2021, Anseong signed a coexistence agreement with Yongin, SK hynix and others concerning development of the semiconductor cluster. Under the agreement, effluent from the cluster is to be discharged into the Hancheon stream approximately 10.5 kilometers upstream of Gosam Reservoir and flow into the reservoir. Gosam Reservoir is a key agricultural infrastructure facility supplying irrigation water to 2,970 hectares of farmland around Anseong and Pyeongtaek.
The Gosam Women Farmers' Group and the Gosam Residents' (Agricultural) Committee Opposing Direct Discharge of SK hynix Semiconductor Sewage and Wastewater into Gosam Reservoir held a protest rally in front of Gosam Nonghyup's agricultural business premises on October 26 and issued a joint declaration of action. They called for complete cancellation of the coexistence agreement signed in 2021 and withdrawal of the direct discharge plan.
In speeches and readings of the declaration, participants including Cho Chung-soon, chair of the Gosam Nonghyup Farm Homemakers' Association; Seo Ga-young, secretary of the Gosam Township Women's Association; and Kim Mi-a, head of the Gosam Nonghyup Hiking Club, criticized Anseong's response and expressed concern about irrigation water safety.
Mayor Kim had previously held an emergency press conference on October 23 and announced plans to pursue renegotiation to supplement the existing coexistence agreement. Kim acknowledged that the agreement lacked specific implementation measures and enforceability, and outlined plans for a consultative body involving relevant institutions and residents to discuss discharge methods, water quality management and measures to prevent agricultural damage.
The women farmers objected, however, arguing that renegotiation while retaining the existing agreement would not fundamentally resolve the direct discharge issue. In particular, they claimed that forming a new consultative body would effectively be a delaying tactic when trial discharges were scheduled for February 2027.
“What Anseong City Council members, heads of local agricultural and livestock cooperatives, and residents demanded was immediate cancellation of the coexistence agreement and complete withdrawal of the direct discharge plan,” they said. “Anseong is obscuring the substance of the issue through supplementary negotiations and the formation of a working-level consultative body.”
Citing recently disclosed parliamentary audit materials, the women farmers and the committee claimed, “At the start of the project, Korea Rural Community Corporation twice expressed opposition over concerns about deterioration of water quality in Gosam Reservoir and dam safety, but Anseong ignored those views.” They also said sufficient measures had not been prepared despite the discharge volume reaching a maximum of 486,000 tonnes per day, 44% more than the amount initially discussed.
They also expressed concern about recent findings by the Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment that chloride and sulfate ion concentrations in Jukdang Stream, which receives effluent from SK hynix's Icheon plant, exceeded the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) guidelines for irrigation water.
The women farmers argued that the effects of substances in semiconductor effluent on irrigation water and crops must be thoroughly verified, and that assurances of compliance with legal discharge standards alone could not guarantee safety.
They demanded complete cancellation of the 2021 coexistence agreement, withdrawal of the plan for direct discharge into Gosam Reservoir and development of a fundamental solution, and an apology from Mayor Kim.
In their declaration of action, the women farmers stated, “Token financial compensation or measures designed merely to show that something is being done cannot weaken our determination to protect clean land and water. We will continue our campaign until the direct discharge plan is withdrawn and a fundamental solution is established.”
Original Korean article: nongmin.com
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
