Pohang visit shows Moon's focus on regional economy

President Moon Jae-in in Pohang Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

President Moon Jae-in visited a regulation-free zone in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Thursday, to support a major investment project led by GS Engineering & Construction in cooperation with the provincial and city administrations, according to the presidential office.

The builder will invest $86 million by 2022 for an electric battery recycling facility in the industrial center of southeast Korea, home of global steelmaking giant POSCO.

The President took part in the signing ceremony for the major investment project, which is aimed at spurring job growth and advancing the nation's battery industry that has been gaining more importance in the age of smartphones and electric cars. The President has underlined electric cars as a key area to focus on to better respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“The demand for batteries is quickly increasing with smartphones, electric cars and devices. By 2025, we expect the battery industry to exceed the size of the market for memory chips. In particular, the production and processing of batteries for electric cars has become all the more important with the government's plan to supply 33 percent of new cars as eco-friendly ones by 2030,” Moon said.

It was the President's third visit to the industrial city since he took office in May 2017. He noted Pohang's “capacity for innovation” and its designation as a regulation-free zone, in addition to the special expertise used to nurture IT experts at POSTECH, as some of the city's distinctive qualifications that make it a “primary” location to develop the battery industry.

“Pohang is best equipped for the development of the battery industry with the regulation-free zone in North Gyeongsang Province. The investment project shows that regional areas can become key players in economic vitality with the necessary institutions and build capabilities through regulatory innovation.”

Cheong Wa Dae explained that the Pohang project is the first case of a conglomerate making a sizable investment in the regional economy since the government designated 14 regulation-free zones in April 2019 in various cities to spurt industrial growth outside Seoul.

“Innovative experimentation and bold challenges are taking place in 14 special regulatory freedom zones nationwide. I hope that Pohang's passion will spread throughout the country and that the national economy will be revived along with the local economy,” Moon said.

Later in the day, the President also visited a smart factory by POSCO, the only Korean plant selected as a “lighthouse factory” by the World Economic Forum, giving it status as one of the global leaders in core future technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.

In a statement, the steelmaker said that it will share its smart factory experience with small and medium-sized enterprises.