Oceans ministry to begin preparations for relocation to Busan by year-end: minister

Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo speaks during an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seoul, Aug. 7. Yonhap

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will begin interior construction of its new headquarters in Busan next month to complete its relocation by the end of this year, Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo said Thursday, calling it the first step in transforming the southern region into a global maritime hub.

"We will lay a solid foundation for developing a maritime capital region," Chun said in a press conference marking the first 100 days of the Lee Jae Myung administration.

The planned relocation to Busan, Korea's largest port city located about 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was one of Lee's key election campaign pledges aimed at developing Busan into a global maritime hub amid the envisioned expansion of Arctic shipping routes. The ministry currently sits in the central administrative city of Sejong, along with most other central government ministries.

The ministry will encourage local shipping companies to relocate to Busan, as well, partly by offering various incentives, while working to establish a new maritime court and an investment corporation for the southeastern region in the city, according to Chun.

To this end, the minister will personally take charge of a government task force that will prepare for the emerging era of Arctic shipping routes, while pushing for the creation of a public-private committee and a support organization for the project, he added.

For the maritime industry, the ministry will push to exempt preliminary feasibility studies for the development of core technologies needed for developing autonomous ships powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Chun said, noting the global autonomous vessel market is expected to reach 350 trillion won ($252 billion) by 2032.

The ministry also plans to begin constructing a test bed for smart port technologies in the southwestern port city of Gwangyang in November and push for memorandums of understanding with Denmark and Singapore for cooperation in creating "green" shipping corridors.

Green shipping corridors refer to shipping routes where vessels emit zero carbon emissions by utilizing nature-friendly technologies and non-carbon fuels.