South Gyeongsang Province launches task force to secure its share of Yeongnam high-tech investment

After the government formally announced plans to break ground this year on 107 trillion won ($77.5 billion) in private high-tech investment and 57 trillion won in research and development projects across the Yeongnam region, South Gyeongsang Province has moved into full gear with its follow-up response. The province is deploying a hands-on support system it built ahead of the government announcement to accelerate the pace of high-tech investment in the region.

Immediately after the government unveiled its Yeongnam development vision last month, South Gyeongsang Province Governor Park Wan-su ordered the creation of the South Gyeongsang Province Advanced Industry Promotion Task Force, headed by the vice governor and deputy-headed by the director of the industry bureau. The province assigned a dedicated task force team within its industrial policy division and established a public-private cooperation framework drawing in 12 related departments — including those handling key industries, investment attraction and industrial complexes — along with major cities and counties such as Changwon and Sacheon, and specialized research institutions including the South Gyeongsang Technopark.

The task force has designated a dedicated manager for each major investing company — including Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai, LG Electronics, Samsung Heavy Industries, Doosan Enerbility and KAI — to provide one-on-one support. The system goes beyond routine administrative guidance, offering a one-stop, on-site service that covers the entire investment process: from the planning stage through securing industrial sites, running a fast-track permitting process, and supplying infrastructure such as power and water.

In practice, the province recently identified and proactively proposed available sites within the region to Hyundai Wia, which had been struggling to find land for a new R&D center and facing delays to its investment schedule. The province is also directly coordinating with the company on the scale of local investment subsidies and on connecting road and power infrastructure, with the aim of achieving an early ground-breaking.

The province recently attended a Ministry of Economy and Finance-led "Yeongnam Advanced Industry Gap-Widening Task Force" meeting, where it formally requested expanded investment subsidy support and eased employment requirements for Southeast growth-engine sectors, the creation of new national subsidy programs for reinvestment in aging facility upgrades and AI transformation, and a separate military service exemption quota for specialist research personnel at large-company research institutes outside the Seoul metropolitan area.

The province also aims to lock in South Gyeongsang's share of the broader Yeongnam investment projects as early as possible. Through regular working-level consultations with major conglomerates, it plans to finalize detailed annual investment figures and schedules on three- and five-year timescales, sign substantive investment agreements at pace, and drive early ground-breaking and results across key strategic industries including aerospace, defense, nuclear power and small modular reactors, and physical AI.