280 Billion KRW Invested in Gumi to Build 'Secondary Battery Development Hub Center' ... Completion in 2026

Gyeongbuk Province, Final Selection for Public Contest Project

Gyeongbuk Province was finally selected on the 22nd for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s public project “Support for Establishing Secondary Battery Promotion Hub Center” and will invest a total project cost of 28 billion KRW (12 billion KRW national funds, 16 billion KRW local funds) over four years starting from 2023.

The Secondary Battery Promotion Hub Center is led by Gyeongbuk Province, Gumi City, and Gumi Electronics & Information Technology Institute, with participation from Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Korea Chemical Convergence Testing Institute, Korea Battery Industry Association, and Gyeongbuk Technopark. By 2026, it will secure a dedicated space within the Gumi National Industrial Complex and establish over 50 types of specialized equipment to support the secondary battery materials industry.

Perspective view of the secondary battery promotion hub center to be established in Gumi, Gyeongbuk.

Currently, in the Gumi National Industrial Complex, LG BCM, a win-win company under the Gumi-type job project, is constructing a cathode material factory with an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons, aiming for completion in September this year.

Centered around this factory, more than 30 companies in the secondary battery materials, parts, and equipment sectors are located, with production companies in the secondary battery and electric vehicle battery fields continuously moving in.

Additionally, recently, a local company recovering valuable metals from waste electronic components is transitioning its business to a raw material company utilizing waste batteries, and it is expected that the Secondary Battery Promotion Hub Center will serve as a focal point to drive the region’s new secondary battery industry.

Since 2019, Gyeongbuk Province has been focusing on expanding the entry of small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies into the waste battery recycling materials sector through the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ “Next-Generation Battery Recycling Regulatory Free Zone” and the Ministry of Environment’s “Electric Vehicle Used Battery Resource Circulation Cluster.”

With the establishment of the Secondary Battery Promotion Hub Center, Gyeongbuk Province plans to support demand companies by providing equipment and technology for secondary battery material property analysis, process development and evaluation, and prototype production, linked with the existing infrastructure. Through the operation of an industry-academia-research-government cooperation network and professional consulting, it aims to strengthen the technological capabilities of companies in raw materials, intermediate materials, and cathode materials sectors and discover and nurture promising small and medium enterprises.

With this selection, Gyeongbuk Province has not only been able to expand the existing secondary battery industry cluster centered on Pohang to Gumi but also taken a step forward in establishing a Gyeongbuk-type secondary battery industry belt through attracting policy projects based on the strengths and characteristics of each region within the province.

Lee Dal-hee, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “Secondary batteries are a future food industry and an advanced strategic industry, and they are the top priority industrial sector for Gyeongbuk Province. We will spare no support to ensure that this public project selection can establish itself as a new growth engine for the secondary battery materials, parts, and equipment industry distributed in the industrial complexes of Gumi and Gimcheon.”