Long known as the hub of technology
and research & development (R&D),
Korea now has its eyes set on the robotics
industry.
Last month, Korea announced that it
would inject KRW 500 billion (USD 445
million) into the robotics industry over
the next five years. The country has 20
pilot projects scheduled for the next two
years and is actively developing and commercializing
advanced manufacturing
robots. The Ministry of Science, ICT and
Future Planning also announced it would
spend KRW 2.2 trillion (USD 1.9 billion)
over the next 10 years to foster self-driving
cars, smart cities, artificial intelligence
(AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented
reality (AR).
For foreign investors looking to enter
the fast-developing industry, they should
take a close look at Pohang City, located
in North Gyeongsang Province.
Pohang City is the main seaport of the
Daegu-Gyeongbuk region on Korea's east
coast. It is located about 110 km north of
Busan and about 360 km southeast of
Seoul. By train, it is 1.5 hours to Daegu,
and 2-3 hours to both Busan and Seoul.
The Pohang Airport also provides domestic
access to other parts of Korea.
In addition, the Pohang Port boasts
excellent conditions as a bridge to the
Daegu Metropolitan City and the North
Gyeongsang region. Divided into the
New and Old Port, the new port is responsible
for supporting the steel industry
such as POSCO, while the old port handles
sand and oil products.
Pohang is also part of the Daegu-
Gyeongbuk Free Economic Zone.
Established in 2008, the Daegu-
Gyeongbuk Free Economic Zone
(DGFEZ) offers customized facilities and
infrastructure to companies operating in
the Korea and Asia-Pacific market.
Located in the heart of Korea’s East
Coast Energy Cluster is the nation’s
largest wind power and nuclear complex,
also known as the Pohang Fusion Tech
District. The district is especially accessible
to two major ports, and is well suited
for companies looking to deliver goods
either internationally or to the Korean
market. The region is looking to house
high tech industries in the sustainable
energy, biotechnology and industrial
material industries. The district will provide
land for the bio-medical, new materials,
energy and R&D industries as well as
foreign schools and international hospitals.
As part of the DGFEZ, the Pohang
Fusion District provides foreign-invested
companies and developers with customized
financial support in the form of
tax exemptions, cash grants, reduced rent
and other subsidies in accordance with
the Free Economy Law (Article 16
Clause 1). In particular foreign-invested
companies in the manufacturing and
R&D industries are eligible for up to 100
percent tax exemption for the first five
years and 50 percent tax exemption for
the following two years.
Along with the Pohang Fusion Tech District, Pohang University of Science
and Technology (POSTECH) is dedicated
to science and technology for budding
engineers and technological development.
POSTECH consistently ranks as one of
the best universities in the world and is
highly regarded as a national research
facility.
The Korean government and foreign
businesses have also shown its support of
the institute. Four government-operated
research centers of the Institute for Basic
Science (IBS) to promote research in
basic sciences are located at POSTECH.
In addition, the Max Planck Society of
Germany and POSTECH established the
Max Planck-POSTECH Center for
Attosecond Science and the Max Planck-
POSTECH Center for Complex Phase
Materials.
Furthermore, the POSTECH Biotech
Center was founded in 2000 to incubate
the development of biotechnological sectors
such as immunology, pharmaceuticals
and nanobiotechnology. Its Smart
Campus system allows students to access
scientific and technological information
via smart phones and mobile devices as
well as laptops. In 2010, for the first time
among Korean universities, POSTECH
implemented a Desktop Cloud Service,
providing a convenient and secure computing
environment.
