‘Strengthening South Korea's Secondary Battery Industry Competitiveness’ Led by Pohang! ... Forum Held at National Assembly Members' Office Building

Exploring Strategies to Strengthen and Develop Competitiveness in the Next-Generation Core Industry: Secondary Battery Industry

Designation of Secondary Battery Specialized Complex and Tesla Attraction, Opportunity for Gyeongbuk and Pohang to Leap

On the 22nd, Pohang City held the "Korea Secondary Battery Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Forum" in the main conference room of the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Pohang City held the "Korea Secondary Battery Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Forum" on the 22nd at the National Assembly Members' Office Building Grand Conference Room to strengthen the competitiveness of the future new secondary battery industry and to continuously secure a super-gap in the explosively growing global battery market.

This forum was hosted by local National Assembly members Kim Jeong-jae and Kim Byeong-wook, along with Han Mu-gyeong, the secretary of the Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Venture Business Committee, and was attended by over 450 experts and citizens from various fields. It was organized to enhance understanding of secondary batteries and to explore ways to strengthen and develop the competitiveness of the global secondary battery industry through policy advice and industry diagnosis by domestic battery experts.

The forum, themed "Strengthening the Competitiveness of Korea's Secondary Battery Industry," featured lectures by domestic secondary battery experts on the diagnosis and development plans of Korea's secondary battery industry, as secondary batteries?called the "rice of future industries"?continue to grow explosively every year and solidify their position as a key to global industrial hegemony.

The event began with a presentation titled "Advanced Strategic Industry Secondary Battery Development Plan" by Song Jun-ho, Senior Researcher at the Next-Generation Electronics Research Center of the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, followed by a presentation on "Domestic and International Electric Vehicle and Secondary Battery Material Industry Vision and Challenges" by Park Jae-beom, Senior Researcher at POSCO Research Institute.

In the subsequent panel discussion, chaired by Kim Gwang-ju, CEO of SNE Research, participants included Park Seok-jun, CEO of EcoPro CNG; Park Gyu-young, professor at POSTECH; Lee Young-joo, head of the Secondary Battery Comprehensive Management Center; Lee Joo-hyun, head of the Corporate Support Division at the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT); and officials from the Ministry of Industry, opening a platform for discussion.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang emphasizing the concentration of all administrative efforts on attracting a secondary battery specialized complex and a gigafactory.

Pohang City, together with Gyeongbuk Province, completed the Secondary Battery Comprehensive Management Center in the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex in 2021, and the "Battery Regulatory Free Zone" was selected as an excellent zone for three consecutive years nationwide for the first time.

Along with establishing national demonstration infrastructure such as the Used Battery Resource Circulation Cluster, Inline Automatic Evaluation Center, and support for commercialization of high-safety, mass-produced Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), Pohang has recently attracted investment of 1 trillion KRW from China's CNGR and opened an Apple manufacturing R&D support center. Pohang is emerging as the optimal location for battery company investments and has been designated as a "Secondary Battery Specialized Complex."

It also boasts world-class technology research infrastructure such as POSTECH, Handong University, and RIST. In terms of transportation, it has the Donghae Line railway, Yeongilman Port railway connection, Daegu-Pohang expressway, Pohang-Gyeongju airport, and Yeongilman Port?the only container port on the East Coast?making it advantageous for the import and export of battery materials and enabling it to serve as a global hub for the secondary battery industry. These advantages allow for strategic nurturing of anchor companies, fulfilling all conditions to leap forward as a world-class battery hub city.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, "This forum was a great opportunity to gather citizens' interest and regional innovation capabilities regarding the secondary battery industry," and emphasized, "With the belief that the secondary battery industry will be a new opportunity to propel Gyeongbuk and Pohang forward, we will concentrate all administrative efforts on attracting the secondary battery specialized complex and gigafactory."

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