Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, Korea Environment Corporation among picks; province also pursues integrated HQ for state power firms
Busan, Ulsan to join joint response; working-level meeting set for later this month
South Gyeongsang Province announced Wednesday that it has selected nine public institutions as priority targets under the government's second round of public institution relocations from the Greater Seoul area. The province held a press briefing at the provincial government press center that day to outline its response efforts to date and its plans going forward, covering both the relocation drive and the proposed consolidation of state-owned power companies.
In August, the province launched a province-wide committee to attract relocating institutions and announced an initial list of 40 public institutions it was targeting.
From that list of 40, the province narrowed its priority picks to nine — the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Institute, the Korea Nanotechnology Research Society, the Korea Environment Corporation, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, the Construction Technology Education Institute, the Korea Racing Authority, the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency — and submitted the list to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The nine priority institutions were chosen because they would build on the functions of public institutions that relocated to the Jinju Gyeongnam Innovation City in the first round, while also aligning closely with the strategic growth industries of the southeastern region under the government's "5 Poles, 3 Special Zones" framework for supra-regional development.
The Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Institute and the Korea Nanotechnology Research Society are closely tied to South Gyeongsang Province's industrial base, which is home to key national strategic industries including shipbuilding, defense, nuclear power and aerospace, the province said. Their relocation would support the upgrading of the region's manufacturing sector and its transition to advanced industries.
The Korea Environment Corporation, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology and the Construction Technology Education Institute, meanwhile, are expected to generate synergies with the Korea Land and Housing Corporation and the Korea Infrastructure Safety and Technology Institute — both already relocated to the Gyeongnam Innovation City — in areas such as eco-friendly development, carbon-neutral infrastructure and construction workforce training.
The Korea Racing Authority would leverage the Lets Run Park Busan Gyeongnam racetrack to stimulate the tourism and leisure industries, boost tax revenues and create jobs, the province said. The Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency would complement the Korea Copyright Commission — which relocated to the Gyeongnam Innovation City in the first round — in strengthening the region's capacity to counter technology leakage and intellectual property disputes.
The province is also bidding to host the integrated headquarters of five state-owned power companies, citing Korea South-East Power's (KOEN) head office in the Gyeongnam Innovation City as a key advantage. Additional grounds for the bid include the concentration of major domestic turbine and generator manufacturers — Doosan Enerbility and Unison — as well as offshore wind substructure makers such as SK oceanplant and HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding, and energy research institutions including the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute. The province also noted that KOEN's existing building could serve as the integrated headquarters, and that the planned closure of the Hadong and Samcheonpo coal-fired power plants aligns with the government's just energy transition policy aimed at carbon neutrality.
The province plans to coordinate its response to the second relocation round jointly with Busan and Ulsan. The three cities and provinces are set to hold a working-level council meeting later this month to discuss effective cooperation strategies for attracting and consolidating public institutions.
Cho Hyun-joon, head of the province's balanced development division, said the second round of public institution relocations and the bid to host the integrated headquarters of state power companies are critical tasks directly tied to securing South Gyeongsang Province's future growth engines and advancing balanced national development. "We will focus all our efforts on working closely with the government, the National Assembly, the political and business communities, our residents, and our partners in Busan and Ulsan to achieve a good outcome," he said.
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