[Report] Andong National Industrial Complex Completes Preliminary Feasibility Study Application... "Compensation to Begin in Early 2026"

"Twenty-six households living within the candidate site of Andong National Industrial Complex and the senior citizens' center ask when compensation will be provided. This shows how positive the villagers are about the national industrial complex project."

Perspective view of Andong National Industrial Complex candidate site / Image provided by Andong City

On the 29th of last month, we visited 67-1 Nori, Pungsan-eup, Andong-si, Gyeongbuk. This site, where the establishment of a bio-life national industrial complex is being promoted, covers an area of 1.05 million square meters and is bordered by Andong Memorial Park to the east and the Jungang Expressway to the south.

Among the 15 candidate sites for the Andong National Industrial Complex, excluding three sites?Yongin, Goheung, and Uljin?that were exempted from the preliminary feasibility study (PFS), this project is progressing the fastest. After being selected as a new national industrial complex candidate site in March last year, the project feasibility study began in October, and in June this year, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) was requested to conduct the PFS. The project implementers are Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and Gyeongbuk Development Corporation. It has also been designated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as a specialized complex for advanced strategic industries (bio sector).

Lee Mi-ok, Deputy Director of LH Daegu-Gyeongbuk Regional Headquarters, said, "We plan to complete the industrial complex plan approval next year, start compensation in the first half of 2026, begin construction in 2027, and aim for completion in 2031." She added, "The land sale price for the industrial complex will be set at the cost price level (about 700,000 KRW) with support from Andong City." The targeted industries are bio-vaccines and bio-pharmaceuticals centered on hemp (HEMP).

According to LH, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the global vaccine market has grown at an average annual rate of 10.2%, and it is estimated to reach $149.2 billion by 2026. The aging population is also a factor expanding the bio market size. Moreover, Andong already has a wide range of bio-related facilities. Representative industrial facilities include SK Bioscience and SK Plasma, and research facilities include the Gyeongbuk Bio Industry Research Institute and the Andong branch of the International Vaccine Institute. According to a survey by Andong City, demand is solid, with 172 companies expressing interest in relocating.

Andong City expects that the establishment of the national industrial complex will generate a production inducement effect of 303.8 billion KRW, a value-added inducement effect of 126.4 billion KRW, and employment inducement for 1,833 people.

Song In-kwang, Director of the Economic and Industrial Bureau of Andong City, explained, "While Andong has focused on culture and tourism themes until now, we are now dividing Gyeongbuk Province into four sectors to develop the bio-life sector." He added, "Andong is equipped with an Animal Cell Validation Support Center, and we have been running a customized talent program for four years, including pre-education for students at Catholic University to secure workforce supply."

Laboratory inside the Animal Cell Validation Support Center / Photo by Noh Kyung-jo

Animal cell validation is conducted at the Vaccine Commercialization Technology Support Center located at 1021 Goejeong-ri, Pungsan-eup. The center is responsible only for non-clinical trials using animals. It was established to contribute to promoting and developing vaccine industrialization for companies based on improving yield and efficacy evaluation of vaccine candidate substances.

At this regional innovation institution, the International Vaccine Institute and the vaccine development bio-venture 'Intera' are housed. Intera is reportedly aiming for an initial public offering (IPO). The space was designed in a circular layout to improve efficiency at each testing stage, and attention was paid to disposing of experimental tools safely. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) was installed without blind spots.

A center official said, "The non-clinical stage is called the Death Valley. It acts as a bottleneck in vaccine industrialization." He added, "We will focus on supporting non-clinical experiments here and do our best for the global growth of the K-vaccine industry."