Minister Lee Young: "Continuous Efforts for Hemp Industrialization"

On-site Visit and Meeting Held for Gyeongbuk Hemp Regulatory Free Zone

Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is delivering the opening address at the launch ceremony of the Regulatory Free Zone Win-Win Connection held at the Central Post Office in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Minister Lee Young visited the 'Hemp Regulatory Free Zone' located in Andong, Gyeongbuk, on the 30th to inspect the country's only hemp cultivation site and manufacturing facilities. Hemp (HEMP) is a cannabis plant with less than 0.3% THC, a psychoactive component, and is used as an industrial material.

The Gyeongbuk Industrial Hemp Free Zone was designated in July 2020 to industrialize hemp, which had been inaccessible due to domestic legal regulations and social conventions, and since April last year, it has started demonstration projects to lay the foundation for fostering new bio-industries.

At the meeting that day, most companies within the free zone expressed that although they participated in the project with high expectations at the time of designation, they faced many difficulties in business promotion due to stringent facility and certification requirements and blocked exports. They also requested the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to prepare measures such as export channels so that companies can have at least minimal self-sustainability and that the activation of the hemp industry can contribute to regional economic development and job creation.

Minister Lee said, "Reflecting the demands of the free zone companies, we will actively support the expansion of the project scale, including enlarging the free zone area, and prepare ways to utilize parts of hemp such as stems and roots that were previously discarded, so that the hemp free zone project can be revitalized. We will continue to strive to foster the domestic hemp industry through the development of medical-purpose products based on safety and efficacy verification and social consensus in the future."