Kakao Corp., a leading domestic digital platform company, will build an 'AI-based Digital Hub' in the Wangsuk District of Namyangju with an investment of 600 billion won. Gyeonggi Province expects this project to serve as an opportunity to establish a new growth industry ecosystem in the northern part of Gyeonggi, where the foundation for high-tech industries is relatively weak.
On the 13th, Kim Dongyeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, signed an 'Investment Agreement for the Construction of an AI-based Digital Hub' at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office with Jeong Sina, CEO of Kakao Corp., Joo Gwangdeok, Mayor of Namyangju, and Lee Hanjun, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).
According to the agreement, Kakao will construct the AI-based Digital Hub on a 34,000-square-meter site within the urban high-tech industrial complex in the Wangsuk District of Namyangju. The total project cost is 600 billion won, with construction scheduled to begin in 2026 and completion targeted for 2029.
Gyeonggi Province and Namyangju City will actively support the smooth progress of the project by assisting with land acquisition, permits, and other administrative procedures, while LH will be responsible for developing the urban high-tech industrial complex and supplying the site.
Kim Dongyeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, said, "I was invited to the Davos Forum for two years and attended, and one of the main topics each time was technological advancement, with AI at the core. I had many discussions and brainstorming sessions with various leaders about how much AI's technological progress would impact our lives, and I learned a lot from those experiences. I am very pleased that Kakao has decided to establish an AI-based Digital Hub in Namyangju."
He continued, "Above all, Gyeonggi Province is promoting five industrial belts, and we are planning an AI cultural industrial belt stretching from Paju in the north to Namyangju. With Kakao building an AI-based hub, I expect this will serve as a finishing touch to our efforts. I promise that the provincial government will do its best to ensure the implementation procedures proceed as quickly as possible."
Kim Dongyeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province (second from left), is taking a commemorative photo after signing an agreement with Jeong Sina, CEO of Kakao (second from right), and Lee Hanjun, President of LH, at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office on the 13th. Photo by Gyeonggi Province
Jeong Sina, CEO of Kakao Corp., responded, "In the era of AI popularization, Kakao's goal is to ensure that all citizens can easily and conveniently use AI services in their daily lives. The Kakao 'Digital Hub' will be established as a core infrastructure for AI popularization, and we will continue to cooperate for the development and mutual growth of the Namyangju region."
Gyeonggi Province explained that this agreement is significant because it has attracted a large-scale investment from Kakao, a leading domestic digital platform company, to northern Gyeonggi, which has long faced difficulties in attracting businesses due to metropolitan area regulations and reverse discrimination.
Gyeonggi Province believes that this agreement has laid the foundation for the northern region to grow into a key city for the AI industry, and that it will greatly contribute to balanced regional development by building a data and AI-based industrial ecosystem and creating high-tech jobs.
The province expects that this investment will play a major role in one of the five major industrial belts it is pursuing: the semiconductor, bio, and mobility belts; the AI cultural industrial belt centered on northern Gyeonggi cities such as Paju, Uijeongbu, and Namyangju; and the AI knowledge industrial belt in southern Gyeonggi cities such as Suwon, Seongnam, Yongin, Gwacheon, and Anyang.
The Namyangju Wangsuk Public Housing District is being developed on a 10.29 million square meter (approximately 3.11 million pyeong) site encompassing Jinjeop-eup, Jingeon-eup, Toegyewon-eup, Ilpae-dong, and Ipae-dong in Namyangju City. It was designated as a public housing district in 2019, with construction starting in June 2023 and completion targeted for the second half of 2028. To secure urban self-sufficiency, a 1.2 million square meter (approximately 360,000 pyeong) urban high-tech industrial complex within the district is planned to be designated in 2026.
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