Advanced strategic industries, including AI and robotics clusters tied to Hyundai Motor investment, to receive support
One-stop customs administration from construction through operation and post-management
The Korea Customs Service is proactively launching a one-stop support system — covering everything from construction to operation and post-management — to designate bonded zones for advanced strategic industries, including AI and robotics clusters, in support of Hyundai Motor's investment at Saemangeum.
The Korea Customs Service said Tuesday it newly designated zones 3, 7 and 8 of the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex — totaling 6.0 square kilometers — as comprehensive bonded zones, in cooperation with the Saemangeum Development Agency.
With this addition, a total of 14.1 square kilometers, including the previously designated zones 1, 2, 5 and 6, will now operate as comprehensive bonded zones.
A comprehensive bonded zone is an area designated by the commissioner of the Korea Customs Service where foreign goods may be stored, manufactured, processed or used in construction — performing two or more such functions — while tariffs and other duties remain suspended.
The designation was pursued to ensure the smooth execution of Hyundai Motor Group's 9 trillion won ($6.29 billion) investment plan at Saemangeum — which includes an AI data center, a robot manufacturing factory and a water electrolysis plant — and to support the early establishment of a national advanced-industry cluster encompassing physical AI and future mobility.
The Korea Customs Service plans to provide companies with suspended tariff benefits at every stage from factory construction to product manufacturing and exports, and to pursue faster, more convenient one-stop support for logistics, manufacturing and processing.
During the infrastructure-building phase — including factory construction — companies will receive suspended tariffs and value-added tax exemptions on related machinery and equipment. Once factories are completed, the service will help lower related taxes and costs to enable swift manufacturing, processing and import-export operations while keeping tariffs on foreign raw materials in abeyance.
Businesses operating within the comprehensive bonded zone will see reduced administrative burdens, as the requirement to renew licenses every five to ten years will be waived along with license fees. Bonded transport procedures between tenants will also be eliminated, enabling freer and faster movement of goods and greater convenience in manufacturing and processing.
Korea Customs Service Commissioner Lee Jong-wook said the expansion of the comprehensive bonded zone is "a preemptive measure to help Hyundai Motor Group and other advanced manufacturers use Saemangeum as a global forward base." He added that the agency would "concentrate its administrative capacity through the Advanced Strategic Industry One-Stop Customs Administration Support Team to help Saemangeum grow into a key hub for South Korea's future industries."
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
