Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Science and ICT), visited Pohang on the 16th to tour the region's excellent technology startup ecosystem and hold a meeting with related companies.
Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT visited Pohang on the 16th and held a meeting with representatives of technology startup companies in the Pohang area. (From left in the photo: Hong Byung-hee, CEO of Graphene Square; Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province; Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT; Kim Moo-hwan, President of POSTECH; Kim Byung-wook, Member of the National Assembly; Kim Nam-il, Deputy Mayor; Kwon Ki-hyun, CEO of Ecotect) Photo by XXX
The minister's visit was held with the attendance of about 20 people, including Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, Kim Nam-il, Vice Mayor of Pohang, Kim Byung-wook, Member of the National Assembly, Kim Moo-hwan, President of POSTECH, and representatives of technology startup companies in the Pohang area. The schedule included ▲a meeting with local technology startup companies ▲a tour of Pohang Change-up Ground, the region's representative startup incubation facility, and visits to resident companies ▲a visit to the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory.
In the preliminary discussion, participants agreed that activating deep tech (foundational technology)-based startups in AI, biohealth, autonomous driving, energy, and other fields that meet market demand in line with the new era of scientific and technological digital transformation, such as Chat GPT, is not optional but essential. They also agreed that this should lead regional balanced development and achieve regional innovation growth.
In particular, at this meeting, Vice Mayor Kim Nam-il stated, “Realizing region-led innovation growth through securing local scientific and technological sovereignty is the top issue of this era.” He requested active support for regional projects such as “establishing a POSTECH research-oriented medical school to train physician-scientists who will play a key role in Korea’s biohealth industry,” “building an integrated platform for large equipment utilization using facilities like the synchrotron accelerator for next-generation drug development,” and “constructing the National Pohang Specialized Science Museum to bridge the scientific culture gap between regions and expand the base of scientific culture.”
During the subsequent company meeting, representatives of local companies founded on excellent innovative technologies, such as ‘Graphene Square,’ which won the CES 2023 Best Innovation Award for its graphene material radiator, and ‘OneSoftDime,’ which received the CES 2023 Innovation Award for its mobile healthcare device capable of body composition measurement, participated. In-depth discussions were held to prepare practical support policies for scaling up technology startups outside the metropolitan area.
At the meeting held on the 16th at Change Up Ground, Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT promised active support for technology startups.
Hong Byung-hee, CEO of Graphene Square, requested active government support, saying, “To prevent the concentration of companies and talented personnel in the metropolitan area and respond to the crisis of regional extinction, it is necessary to prepare practical measures to promote the relocation of innovative companies based in the metropolitan area to local regions.”
Jung Woon-ryong, CEO of Midas H&T, said, “All scientific technologies existing in this era eventually converge to create greater synergy effects,” and added, “To create innovative products by integrating next-generation materials and data analysis technologies, it is essential to establish a science and technology-based digital ecosystem.”
Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT said, “It is important that innovative technologies do not go to waste but lead to startups, becoming ‘seeds of innovation’ for Korea’s growth and leap forward,” and added, “We will actively support technology startups so that science and technology can bring waves of innovation to markets and industries.”
After the meeting, Minister Lee Jong-ho toured the Pohang Synchrotron Accelerator facility, which generates light (synchrotron radiation) more than 10 billion times brighter than sunlight and can analyze ultra-fine material structures, making it widely applicable not only to basic scientific research but also to applied technology development, concluding his schedule in Pohang.
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