Pohang Mayor Lee Gang-deok Personally Oversees Secondary Battery Specialized Complex ... Meeting with Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy

Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang is actively working to secure the designation of Pohang as a secondary battery specialized complex, even while undergoing medical treatment.

According to Pohang City, on the 13th, Mayor Lee Kang-deok met with Minister Lee Chang-yang of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at the National Assembly to propose the designation of Pohang as an “Advanced Strategic Industry Specialized Complex for Secondary Batteries.”

On the 13th, Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang, along with Assemblymen Kim Jeong-jae and Kim Byeong-wook, met with Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, at the National Assembly to propose the designation of Pohang as an "Advanced Secondary Battery Strategic Industry Specialized Complex." (From left: Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang; Kim Jeong-jae, Assemblyman; Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy; Kim Byeong-wook, Assemblyman)

Also attending the meeting were local National Assembly members Kim Jung-jae and Kim Byung-wook, who have been vigorously advocating for the designation of the secondary battery specialized complex, joining forces to support Pohang’s bid.

During the meeting, Mayor Lee explained, “Pohang is the world’s number one city in cathode material production, home to global companies such as EcoPro and POSCO Future M, and uniquely established with a full-cycle value chain for secondary battery materials from recycling to cathode materials.”

He added, “With a confirmed large-scale corporate investment of 14 trillion KRW by 2027, national-level support is necessary to activate investment. By 2030, Pohang aims to achieve an annual cathode material production of 1 million tons and sales of 70 trillion KRW, making it the optimal location to achieve self-reliance in secondary battery materials and to secure global technological dominance in the secondary battery industry,” emphasizing the need for the specialized complex designation.

With the final selection results for the national advanced strategic industry specialized complex project scheduled for early July, Mayor Lee plans to continue visiting the National Assembly and government agencies over the coming days to consistently promote Pohang as the best site for the secondary battery specialized complex.

Pohang, where large-scale production facilities for secondary battery raw materials, cathode materials, and anode materials are concentrated, already holds a competitive edge by producing the largest domestic volume of cathode materials at 150,000 tons. With ongoing large-scale investments from global leading companies such as EcoPro and POSCO Future M, it is expected that by 2030, production of cathode materials will reach 1 million tons.

This accounts for 16.5% of the global cathode material demand of 6.05 million tons. In particular, Pohang is evaluated as the optimal location to localize the production of cobalt sulfate, lithium hydroxide, and precursors?materials for cathode production that currently rely on China for over 90%?thereby strengthening the domestic cathode material supply chain.

Additionally, Pohang has infrastructure that facilitates the import and export of raw materials through Yeongilman Port, and possesses research and human resource development capabilities through institutions such as POSTECH and accelerators. It was also the first city in the country to enact an ordinance for fostering the secondary battery industry and to establish a dedicated department, the Battery Advanced Industry Division.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok explained these advantages of Pohang and highlighted the region’s strong efforts, including hosting the Pohang International Battery Conference (POBATT), and plans to continuously promote Pohang’s firm commitment to fostering the secondary battery industry.

Alongside remarkable achievements in large-scale corporate investments, Pohang has steadily built global competitiveness in secondary batteries by proactively establishing key infrastructure such as the next-generation battery recycling regulatory free zone and the secondary battery comprehensive management center.

Designated in 2019, the next-generation battery recycling regulatory free zone is the only one among 32 nationwide zones to be recognized as an excellent zone for three consecutive years. It is regarded as the most successful model of a regulatory free zone, leading regulatory innovation in new industries, regional economic growth, balanced regional development, and job creation.

The secondary battery comprehensive management center, completed in 2021, serves as a hub for electric vehicle battery performance evaluation and comprehensive management technology development research, setting new standards for the used battery industry.

By attracting numerous follow-up national projects linked to the regulatory free zone, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s commercialization project for high-safety, cost-effective lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, the Ministry of Environment’s electric vehicle used battery resource circulation cluster, and the inline automatic evaluation center, Pohang has further solidified its status as a secondary battery industry city.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok also attended the advanced strategic industry specialized complex evaluation presentation held at Seoul Square on May 17, where he directly responded to questions from evaluation committee members, demonstrating strong determination for the designation.

Currently, more than 20 local governments nationwide are competing in the national advanced strategic industry specialized complex designation contest. After evaluations by private expert committees and deliberations and resolutions by the National Advanced Strategic Industry Committee (chaired by the Prime Minister), the final selection is scheduled for early July.

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