Gwangju City Takes Initiative to Establish National Geomagnetic Research Infrastructure

Korea Basic Science Institute-Gwangju City-Ulsan City-Gangwon Province Business Agreement Signed

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced that it signed a business agreement on the 12th with the Korea Basic Science Institute (hereinafter KBSI), Ulsan City, and Gangwon Province to establish a ‘Super-wide National High Magnetic Field Research Infrastructure.’

The signing ceremony was held at the Daejeon KBSI headquarters, attended by Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, Choi Moon-soon, Governor of Gangwon Province, Jo Won-kyung, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Ulsan Metropolitan City, and Shin Hyung-sik, Director of KBSI.

This agreement was made to systematically and efficiently build the high magnetic field research infrastructure, which had been individually promoted by the government-funded research institute KBSI and the three local governments of Gwangju, Ulsan, and Gangwon Province, without duplication.

It holds great significance as it establishes a cooperative system to catch three goals at once: building high magnetic field research and development infrastructure, fostering related industries, and achieving regional balanced development.

The agreement includes KBSI’s overall support for the national high magnetic field research infrastructure construction and operation of research support facilities across three regions. Gwangju will focus on new materials, Ulsan on energy, and Gangwon Province on biomedical life sciences, jointly cooperating to develop core regional target technologies and commercialize the high magnetic field research and development infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Gwangju started planning research for building the high magnetic field research infrastructure in 2016 and signed a business agreement with KBSI in June last year. In July last year, it held the ‘Magnetic Application Science Technology Forum’ with participation from top domestic experts and has been steadily preparing to attract the ‘National High Magnetic Field Research Institute’ with related ministries, the National Assembly, and research institutions.

In addition, in February, Mayor Lee Yong-seop personally visited the Basic Power Research Institute at Seoul National University to discuss joint cooperation for attracting the National High Magnetic Field Research Institute to Gwangju with Moon Seung-il, Director of the Basic Power Research Institute at Seoul National University, and Professor Han Seung-yong, a world-renowned authority in this field. In March, a planning committee involving local industry, academia, and research was launched.

Since June, Gwangju, Ulsan, Gangwon, and KBSI have been jointly conducting a ‘Planning Study on the Establishment and Utilization of Super-wide High Magnetic Field Research Infrastructure,’ and this planning study will establish plans for the construction, utilization, and related applied field development of the national high magnetic field research infrastructure.

High Magnetic Field refers to a magnetic field with high intensity. Promising related industries utilizing such high magnetic fields include superconducting turbines (rotating machines), ESS, MRI, and high magnetic field research equipment industries. Related applied industries exist diversely in materials, power, biomedical life sciences, and energy fields, such as hyperloop, electric vehicles, and development of new drugs, vaccines, and antibiotics.

Furthermore, in research on clean energy source development due to environmental regulations, maximizing energy efficiency, and reducing carbon emissions, advanced countries have long established national high magnetic field research facilities and are actively conducting leading research utilizing them.

In particular, they actively utilize research infrastructure to develop fundamental technologies in basic science fields, create innovative products, and generate new jobs, contributing to the national economy.

Once the high magnetic field research infrastructure is established, it will enable the integration of high magnetic field technology, which is currently researched on a small scale and dispersed mainly in universities and research institutes, allowing systematic research and development to secure global technological competitiveness and innovative development of manufacturing industries, leading to innovative progress across national industries.

Gwangju has agreed to jointly cooperate with Ulsan and Gangwon to ensure that the super-wide national high magnetic field research infrastructure construction project is reflected in the presidential election pledges. If this project is confirmed, it is expected to be promoted on a scale of 1 trillion won over 10 years.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “Through this agreement, we will do our best to take the lead in future advanced industries by preemptively conducting high magnetic field research, which is essential for the advancement of various scientific fields and manufacturing industries.” He added, “In particular, we will create next-generation growth engines by applying high magnetic field research results to regional strategic industries such as advanced medical care, new energy industries, and eco-friendly automobiles.”

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