[Gyeonggi] Yongin City "Completed within this year with the lifting of the Songtan water source protection zone."

The lifting of the Songtan Water Source Protection Zone, which was promoted as part of the creation of a high-tech system semiconductor national industrial complex in Idong and Namsa-eup, Yongin, is expected to be completed within this year.

Yongin City said it expects the process of lifting the Songtan Water Supply Protection Zone to be completed by the end of this year, three to four months earlier than the first quarter of next year, as the Han River Basin Environment Agency approved and announced an application for approval to change the general water project submitted by Pyeongtaek City to close the Songtan water treatment and water purification plant on the 19th.

The lifting of the Songtan Water Supply Protection Zone is in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Environment, Gyeonggi Province, Yongin City, and Pyeongtaek City in April.

The agreement calls for lifting 64.43 square kilometers (about 19.5 million pyeong) of Songtan Water Source Protection Zone, which has been an obstacle to the creation of Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex.

Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "The lifting of the Songtan Water Supply Protection Zone will have a positive effect on the development of the two cities, Yongin and Pyeongtaek, as well as strengthening the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry."

"We will establish a systematic urban plan to prevent reckless development in areas where regulations are lifted," he said, adding, "We will thoroughly manage the water quality of Jinwicheon so that clear water flows down Lake Pyeongtaek."