Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk held a forum Thursday with companies operating in the Ulsan Free Economic Zone — the first such gathering since the launch of the ninth directly elected city administration — to hear their concerns and identify concrete support measures.
Kim attended the "2026 Ulsan Free Economic Zone Tenant Companies Forum," held at 2 p.m. Thursday in a second-floor conference room at the 3D Printing Venture Cluster Knowledge Industry Center inside the Techno Industrial Complex. Officials from environment, road and transportation departments in Nam-gu and Ulju-gun also took part and listened to proposals from the assembled firms.
About 40 people attended, including tenant companies from the Techno Industrial Complex, UNIST and the 3D Printing Venture Cluster Knowledge Industry Center, as well as representatives from innovation support bodies such as the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, the Korea Testing & Research Institute (KTR) and Ulsan Technopark.
After hearing the companies' proposals, Kim pledged support, saying, "Issues that can be resolved immediately will be addressed without delay, and tasks requiring systemic reform will be incorporated into medium- and long-term policy."
Separately, the Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority said it would operate a mobile on-site corporate support service to provide consultation by visiting tenant companies directly.
The Ulsan Free Economic Zone was designated in June 2020. Last August, the KTX Ulsan Station mixed-use special complex was added to the zone, expanding its total area from 4.755 million square meters to 6.287 million square meters.
Since the authority's establishment, the number of tenant companies has grown by 111, the workforce has increased by 2,057, and total investment has risen by 1.47 trillion won ($996 million). The zone has also received an A rating for two consecutive years in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's free economic zone performance evaluation.
The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority plans to pursue regular communication with businesses for follow-up action, while targeting around 400 billion won in new investment centered on two newly supplied sites: the 1.532 million-square-meter KTX Ulsan Station mixed-use special complex and the 666,901-square-meter Hi-Tech Valley Phase 2.
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