Seongsoo Jeon, Seocho District Mayor: "Seocho is Korea's AI Hub... Applying for Special Zone Designation to the Ministry of SMEs Next Year"

"Seocho-gu is the Optimal Site for AI·ICT Cluster"
AI Industry Infrastructure Already Established in Yangjae and Umyeon-dong Areas
Dedicated to Resolving Civil Complaints like 'Jeonseongsuda' and 'Gujjomman'

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho District Office in Seoul (photo), is showing reporters a Telegram chat room where he shares civil complaint details and processing results received through his work mobile phone called 'Seongsu-ssi's Direct Line.' Over the past 1 year and 5 months, Mayor Jeon has reviewed more than 3,400 civil complaints in this space. (Photo by Minjin Kim enter@)

"Seoul City is currently conducting a basic plan establishment project for the designation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) special zone in the Yangjae area. Once the project results are out, Seocho-gu plans to apply for AI special zone designation to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups next year through consulting with the ministry and resident public hearings in connection with this," said Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, Seoul (photo).

Mayor Jeon, whom we met at the Seocho-gu office on the 28th of last month, stated, "We are proceeding with a two-track approach to designate the 'Yangjae AI Special Zone' in the Yangjae and Umyeon-dong areas and the 'Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Specific Development Promotion District' in the nearby Yangjae 1 and 2-dong areas." He emphasized that "the key is the agglomeration effect" and that "Seocho is the optimal cluster where industry, academia, and research converge as one."

Mayor Jeon said, "The Yangjae and Umyeon-dong areas already host R&D centers of Samsung, LG, KT, and about 90 AI-related startups, and the 'Seoul AI Hub,' which discovers and supports excellent AI companies, has been established. There are abundant AI-related anchor facilities, and plans are underway for the KAIST AI Graduate School, AI companies, universities, and research institutes to settle in the 'AI Seoul Tech City.' There is no place that can replace Seocho-gu as the center of the AI industry in Korea," he added.

In fact, an AI Education Center has already opened here, and next year, an AI Support Center and the Gangnam Data Center (GDC) will open in 2025. AI Seoul Tech City will be established in 2028 on the site of the Yangjae-dong Grain Wholesale Market. Mayor Jeon said, "We will skillfully connect and integrate this infrastructure to create a competitive AI industry hub that attracts talented individuals, companies, and research institutes."

In Yangjae 1 and 2-dong, about 350 small and medium-sized enterprises related to AI and ICT are located. In 2021, Seoul City selected this area as the target for the ICT Specific Development Promotion District (930,000㎡), and Seocho-gu plans to submit an application for designation of the ICT Specific Development Promotion District to Seoul City next year, separately from the Yangjae AI Special Zone.

Seocho-gu initiated the basic plan for the AI Special Zone and the promotion plan for the ICT Specific Development Promotion District last year. Next year, it plans to apply for the designation of the AI Special Zone and the ICT Specific Development Promotion District to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, respectively. (Data provided by Seocho-gu Office)

If Seocho-gu launched this year the 'Cultural Belt' project linking five themes along a straight line from Umyeonsan Mountain and the Seoul Arts Center to Banpo Hangang Park, and a project to designate the area from the Express Bus Terminal to Banpo Hangang Park as a tourist special zone, next year it will actively promote projects to make Seocho the center of Korea's 4th Industrial Revolution. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has the authority to designate AI special zones, and Seoul City has the authority to designate ICT Specific Development Promotion Districts. Once designated as special zones or districts, various incentives and support follow.

Mayor Jeon, who has worked for over 20 years in Seoul City and has diverse public service experience including spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Consul General at the Embassy in Thailand, and Deputy Mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City, is also well known for communication and resolving civil complaints through various methods such as 'Jeon Seong-su-da,' 'Let's Meet the Mayor (Gujjomman),' and 'Seongsu's Direct Line.'

Mayor Jeon said, "Voices from the field come more vividly than paper documents in the office," and "We create management cards for residents' stories and hold quarterly review meetings with department heads to seek comprehensive solutions and alternatives by brainstorming with related department heads." He meets residents in the field on the first and third Wednesdays of every month and at the 'Imagination Cafe' set up in front of the mayor's office on the second and fourth weeks.

Civil complaints are received via text messages and photos through the mayor's work mobile phone, 'Seongsu's Direct Line.' All executives, including the mayor, share this information daily through a Telegram chat room, and the relevant departments must share responses and results within three days. Since taking office, more than 3,400 cases have been resolved or received feedback through this method.

One example of resolving civil complaints through 'Jeon Seong-su-da' is the free opening of the Riverside Hotel Jamwon underpass parking lot in Jamwon-dong to residents. Mayor Jeon said, "After hearing the hardships of Jamwon-dong residents regarding parking shortages and illegal parking, we held several negotiations with the hotel to share the hotel parking lot under the overpass with merchants and residents," and "We were able to sign a business agreement to open 20 parking spaces on weekdays without interfering with hotel operations."

Jeon Seong-su, Seocho District Mayor (Photo by Seocho District Office)