Pohang Recognized for Creating an Optimal Environment for Digital and AI Industry Growth... Achievements in Building a Thriving Ecosystem
Mayor Lee Kangdeok: "Fostering Digital and AI Industries Will Drive South Korea's Leap as a Digital Powerhouse"
Pohang City was selected as a ‘Digital Convergence Innovation City’ in the K-City category at the 2025 K-Brand Awards held on the 19th at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul.
Pohang City won the 2025 K-Brand Awards in the 'Digital Innovation City' category. Photo by Pohang City
The K-Brand Awards, hosted by TV Chosun and sponsored by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is the largest industrial and content brand awards ceremony in South Korea. Pohang City received the honor of the award as a result of its continuous efforts for innovation in the digital industry sector and recognition of its digital influence.
As the era shifts to one where digital technology determines national capabilities and economic growth and becomes the core of economic security, major global countries are fiercely competing to secure leadership in the digital hegemony race.
South Korea also launched the National AI Committee in September last year, concentrating all its capabilities to leap forward as one of the ‘Top 3 AI Powers in the World,’ which is the core of digital technology.
In line with this trend, Pohang City has been steadily building innovation infrastructure and ecosystem foundations early on to secure digital and AI competitiveness that can compete in the global market, centered on the newly established dedicated organization, the ‘Digital Convergence Industry Division,’ created in July 2023.
In particular, aiming for the ‘Pohang-type Digital Flagship’ to drive the digital and AI industry, Pohang has been implementing strategies ahead of other local governments, such as ▲building a global AI infrastructure and ecosystem ▲establishing AI loans and AI funds ▲promoting AI transformation (AX) across all industries ▲supporting corporate globalization, earning a reputation as a leader in South Korea’s digital and AI sectors.
Additionally, Pohang, which leads innovation in new industries by dominating three specialized complexes including traditional steel manufacturing, secondary batteries, bio, and hydrogen, received high marks in the evaluation for being an advanced city where digital and AI industries converge to create enormous synergy effects.
Furthermore, Pohang was recognized for having optimal conditions for the growth of digital and AI industries by producing over 1,000 outstanding talents annually through excellent industry-academia research infrastructure such as POSTECH, Korea Institute of Robot Convergence, and Apple R&D Support Center.
Pohang City plans to further expand the innovative ecosystem where universities, companies, and research infrastructure can collaborate, accelerate the establishment of key infrastructure such as the AI Accelerator Center, and build an integrated research data platform based on high-performance computing, swiftly advancing its transformation into a digital innovation city that integrates digital and AI industries throughout the city.
Moreover, Pohang has expressed strong determination to attract the ‘National AI Computing Center,’ a core government policy preparing for the leap to become one of the top 3 AI powers, with a scale of up to 2 trillion KRW, and is committed to securing a global super-gap growth engine for the AI industry.
Taking this award as an opportunity, the city plans to mobilize all its capabilities to achieve globalization of K-Digital Innovation City Pohang along with a leap forward in the global digital and AI market.
Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “I am pleased to receive the Digital Convergence Innovation City award, and we will actively foster the digital and AI industries, which will be the new growth engine for Pohang’s next 100 years, to lead South Korea’s leap as a digital powerhouse.”
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