Continuous Innovation in AI-Based Industries Highly Recognized... Honored with Award
Vision of 'Leap Forward as a Global AI Leading City, Pohang'
Leading Industrial Transformation Based on AI
Pohang City has once again proven its status as a hub for advanced future industries by being selected as a leading city in the artificial intelligence industry at the '2025 National Industry Awards'.
On the 17th, the city was named a leading city in the artificial intelligence industry in the industrial brand category at the '2025 National Industry Awards' ceremony held at the EL Tower in Seoul.
Pohang City has been selected as the leading city for the artificial intelligence industry in the 2025 National Industry Awards. Photo by Pohang City
The National Industry Awards is the largest industrial brand awards ceremony in Korea, organized by the Industrial Policy Research Institute and sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Dong-A Ilbo, among others.
This year, competition among local governments was especially fierce in future core high-tech industries such as artificial intelligence, bio, and energy. Pohang was honored with the award for its highly recognized achievements in continuous innovation based on the artificial intelligence industry.
In July 2023, Pohang City established the 'Digital Convergence Industry Division' and, with the vision of 'Leap Forward as a Global AI Leading City,' has been actively promoting AI industry development policies centered on four major strategies: building Pohang-style AI infrastructure and ecosystem, creating AI loans and funds, a comprehensive AI transformation (AX) across industries, and supporting the globalization of companies.
Through these efforts, Pohang has gone beyond its steel-centered industrial structure to achieve the distinction of being selected as a specialized complex for three national high-tech strategic industries: secondary batteries, bio, and hydrogen, thus emerging as a super-gap innovation city based on new industry convergence.
In addition, leveraging the nation's top-tier industry-academia-research R&D infrastructure, Pohang has steadily established a robust foundation for explosive growth in the AI industry by creating an organic cooperative ecosystem with local universities, research institutes, and AI startups.
This award is seen as external recognition that Pohang is a city equipped with both future growth potential and strategic industrial capabilities.
In particular, Pohang is drawing attention for its high potential in the ongoing competition to host the government's 'National AI Computing Center,' which could reach up to 2 trillion won in scale.
With strengths in all areas such as AI infrastructure density, high-performance computing environment, professional talent development, and power supply conditions utilizing nuclear power plants, expectations are rising for Pohang's leap forward as a base for the AI computing industry.
Taking this award as an opportunity, the city plans to firmly establish itself as a strategic hub for realizing the government's vision of becoming one of the world's top three AI powers and as a key partner in national AI industry development policies.
Mayor Lee Kangdeok stated, "This award proves that the direction of innovation and change Pohang has pursued was the right one. As this achievement was made possible by the joint efforts of citizens, companies, universities, and research institutes, we will continue to pursue cooperation and challenges, nurturing the AI industry as the core driving force for Pohang's next 100 years."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
