Mostly True
The Gyeonggi Research Institute (GRI) has forecast that industrial water demand from the semiconductor mega cluster taking shape in Gyeonggi Province will outstrip available supply, and the institute is calling on the province to expand the reuse of sewage and wastewater to fill the gap. The finding, presented alongside a provincial forecast charting the cluster's industrial water demand and projected shortage, is at the center of a claim recently examined by this newspaper.
GRI, Gyeonggi Province's research arm, examined the industrial water needs of the mega cluster, the large-scale fab complex anchored by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the province. Its published forecast plots both expected industrial water demand and the anticipated shortage as the cluster's semiconductor lines come online, warning that existing supply alone will not be enough to support the build-out. The projection frames the water question as one of the defining constraints on the project, alongside land and power.
The institute's answer is not new dam development or reallocation of agricultural water, but reuse. GRI argues the province must move to reuse treated sewage and wastewater — lower-grade water that, with additional treatment, can serve fab operations — to secure a stable industrial water supply for the cluster without drawing further on scarce sources. The recommendation is framed as necessary rather than optional if the province is to sustain the cluster's growth.
This newspaper reviewed 11 primary sources, including the GRI report, the provincial government's demand-and-shortage forecast chart, and related coverage. The sources confirm that GRI has projected a shortage of industrial water for the mega cluster and has recommended sewage and wastewater reuse as the response. The shortage is a forecast tied to the cluster's full build-out rather than a present-day crisis, which tempers the claim's framing. On that basis, the claim that the semiconductor mega cluster faces a water shortage and that the Gyeonggi Research Institute says sewage and wastewater reuse is needed is Mostly True.
