Support for Fostering Advanced and Service Industries
176 Special Zones Operated in 143 Cities, Counties, and Districts
The government has newly added three regional specialized development zones to support the cultivation of advanced and service industries.
Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, attended the Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno, Seoul, on the 16th of last month, and spoke about measures to strengthen protection and relief for innovative startup technologies. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@
On the 28th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the 57th Regional Specialized Development Zone Committee meeting and announced on the 29th that it had newly designated three zones: Yangjae AI Future Convergence Innovation Zone, Daejeon Special Visual Content Zone, and Siheung Geobukseom Water Leisure Sports Zone. It also reviewed and approved major changes to two existing zones and the cancellation of four zones that had achieved their designated purposes.
Regional specialized development zones are areas where local governments nationwide can promote specialized projects tailored to their regional characteristics for balanced regional development and revitalization of the local economy. These zones allow the application of 129 regulatory exemptions (from 59 individual laws) listed in the 'Regional Special Zone Act' that local governments require. Since its introduction in 2004, 176 zones have been operated across 143 cities, counties, and districts nationwide.
The three newly designated zones through this committee review are the Yangjae AI Future Convergence Innovation Zone in Seocho-gu, Seoul; the Special Visual Content Zone in Seo-gu and Yuseong-gu, Daejeon; and the Geobukseom Water Leisure Sports Zone in Siheung-si, Gyeonggi Province. They will be fully operational starting January next year.
Seocho-gu, home to about 500 AI and ICT-related SMEs, startups, and large corporations' R&D research centers, plans to leverage these strengths to establish the Umyeon-dong and Yangjae Station areas as AI innovation hubs by promoting professional talent development, startup nurturing, technology development, and expansion of the base. From next year until 2029, it will implement AI graduate school operations, establish AI startup funds, and provide loan support.
Seo-gu and Yuseong-gu in Daejeon are regions where 'Cube,' the largest multi-purpose filming studio in Korea, is located, and they host the nation's only special visual film festival annually. Thirty-six related science and technology research institutes and companies are also based in the area. Until 2029, they plan to support special visual technology development and commercialization, create a special visual content convergence cluster, and develop a special visual content themed street.
In the Geobukseom-dong area of Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, there are Korea's largest artificial surfing park (Wave Park), diving pool, Aqua Pet Land, and Marine Ecology Science Museum, and events such as the Geobukseom Marine Festival and international surfing competitions are held. Siheung City plans to develop a marina and marine ecology science museum, create water leisure sports packages, establish and revitalize Geobukseom's attractions and festival streets, and host international surfing competitions.
Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "Recently, there has been a trend of increasing special zones in new industries. At this committee meeting, we confirmed the local governments' will to foster advanced fields such as AI and special visual content as regional specialized industries to secure future growth engines and strengthen the regional economic base." He added, "We will continue efforts to discover new regulatory exemptions necessary on-site so that the specialized projects discovered through various considerations by each local government for fostering regional specialized industries and revitalizing the economy can achieve high performance."
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