Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Establish 'Startup Park' in Daejeon and Cheonan

Selection of Regions Excelling in Business Evaluation

Aerial View of Daejeon Startup Park

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 10th that Daejeon Metropolitan City and Cheonan City in Chungnam Province were finally selected as the winners of the Startup Park creation project evaluation.

In this project evaluation, Daejeon, selected as the standalone type, plans to develop the Gung-dong area in Yuseong-gu, located between Chungnam National University and KAIST, into a Startup Park. It will be developed on a site area of 3,632㎡ with a total floor area of 12,000㎡. This area possesses entrepreneurial human resources and infrastructure such as the Daedeok Research and Development Special Zone, KAIST, and Chungnam National University, and is also concentrated with residential, cultural, and commercial facilities. The conditions for startups and networking are excellent.

Cheonan City in Chungnam, selected as the complex type, plans to create a Green Startup Town operated by renewable energy. This area has already been designated as an urban regeneration innovation district, and the project is underway, so the Startup Town is expected to be developed quickly.

It will be developed in the Wachon-dong area of Seobuk-gu, Cheonan, with a site area of 7,335㎡ and a total floor area of 17,640㎡. This area has excellent transportation infrastructure with Cheonan Station and favorable residential conditions. The nearby concentrated universities, investment institutions, innovation entities, and startup support organizations are expected to help not only attract startups but also provide continuous support in the future.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will support Daejeon, selected as the standalone type, with 500 million KRW for the Startup Park design costs this year. Next year, it plans to support about 12 billion KRW for the Startup Park construction costs. Daejeon plans to invest more than 12 billion KRW in the Startup Park development by matching the national funds.

Cheonan City, selected as the complex type, will additionally receive support for building a complex hub center besides the Startup Park. This year, 500 million KRW each for the Startup Park design and the complex hub center design will be supported by national funds. Next year, about 12 billion KRW for the Startup Park construction and 14 billion KRW for the complex hub center construction will be additionally supported. Cheonan City also plans to invest more than 30 billion KRW by matching the national funds.

Aerial View of Startup Park in Cheonan-si, Chungnam

The Startup Park is an open innovation space where members of the startup venture ecosystem can freely communicate and collaborate, similar to Silicon Valley in the United States and Station F in France. Incheon was selected last year as the 'No. 1 Startup Park' development area.

This year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups promoted the project with plans to select one each of standalone and complex types for the Startup Park development concept. The standalone type builds a Startup Park in places where networking and residential infrastructure are well established and can immediately function as an innovation startup hub. The complex type is to create a 'Green Startup Town' as part of the Green New Deal project under the Korean New Deal.

Nine local governments applied for this year's Startup Park development project. To ensure fairness, the Ministry formed an evaluation committee composed of experts with no conflicts of interest. After on-site verification, a comprehensive written evaluation combining document and field assessments was conducted, followed by a presentation evaluation for local governments that passed. The final score was calculated by summing the comprehensive written evaluation score and the presentation evaluation score.

Kang Sungcheon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We will maintain a close cooperative system with local governments in the future and ensure that the Startup Park is developed without any setbacks to properly function as a startup innovation hub."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.