Chungnam, Advanced 'Rehabilitation Healthcare' Linked with Spas

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is accelerating the high value-added development of the hot spring industry.

The province announced on the 7th that two projects in the spa (hot spring)-linked rehabilitation healthcare sector were consecutively selected in a public contest held by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, securing 9.9 billion KRW in national funding.

So far, the province has been promoting leading hot spring-linked specialized projects through public contests by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy since 2020, based on local hot spring areas such as Asan, Onyang, Dogo, and Deoksan, recognizing the need for phased industrialization in the spa-linked rehabilitation healthcare sector.

In particular, during this process, the projects “Demonstration-based Spa-linked Rehabilitation Healthcare Safety Certification and Industry Advancement Support Project” and “Development Project of 5G-based Smart Wearable Devices and Service Platform for Spa Facilities” were finally selected in the ministry’s public contest, which the province expects will lay the foundation for the advancement of the hot spring-linked industry.

The Demonstration-based Spa-linked Rehabilitation Healthcare Safety Certification and Industry Advancement Support Project was selected as a new planning task under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s “Smart Specialization Infrastructure Establishment Project” and will be implemented from next year until 2025 with a total project cost of 8 billion KRW (including 4.8 billion KRW in national funding).

This project aims to advance the industry by establishing a corporate support system including prototype production and high value-added, demand-oriented technology support in response to changes in the digital industrial environment.

The province is also exploring ways to foster the base center currently under construction in the Asan Yeomchi General Industrial Complex as a hub to strengthen corporate competitiveness by linking it with this project under the “Healing Spa-based Rehabilitation Healthcare Diversification Project.”

The Development Project of 5G-based Smart Wearable Devices and Service Platform for Spa Facilities was selected as a new task under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s “Biohealth Research and Development Project.”

Implemented under the supervision of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, this project will be promoted from this year until 2026 with a total project cost of 6.1 billion KRW (including 5.1 billion KRW in national funding).

The province plans to proceed with healthcare product development for spa facilities starting in the second half of this year, linked with the “Web-based Rehabilitation Healthcare Device Industry Customized Full-cycle Support Platform” established through the “User-centered Rehabilitation Healthcare Device Platform Construction Project.”

Additionally, the province plans to create a synergistic effect by developing wearable sensor devices capable of measuring spa users’ physical information and building a service platform for medical verification of spa efficacy, applying these to the base center.

Yu Jae-ryong, Director of the Future Industry Bureau of the province, said, “We will strive to foster unique rehabilitation healthcare and biohealth-related industries exclusive to Chungnam.” He added, “The province will do its best to develop local hot spring areas into spa-linked rehabilitation healthcare industrial hubs and to discover and nurture related industries such as rehabilitation treatment and preventive medicine.”

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