Pohang City Hosts East Sea Rim International Symposium ... Exploring Development Strategies for the East Sea Rim in the Era of Global Challenges

Exploring Future Technology and Pohang Growth Strategies Based on the East Sea Rim Network

On the 27th, Pohang City held the 11th East Sea International Symposium under the theme "Global Challenges and the East Sea, Future Technology and Pohang's Growth Strategy" at the city hall's main conference room.

On the 27th, Pohang City held the "11th East Sea Rim International Symposium" at the city hall's main conference room under the theme "Global Challenges and the East Sea Rim, Future Technology and Pohang's Growth Strategy."

Hosted by Yeongnam Ilbo and Kyung Hee University Institute of International Area Studies, the symposium was attended by Mayor Lee Kang-deok, Vice Chairman Kim Il-man of the City Council, Vice Chairman Park Yong-seon of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, Kim Jung-kwon, Head of the East Sea Regional Headquarters of Gyeongbuk Province, and domestic and international experts.

Kim Moo-hwan, President of POSTECH, who delivered the keynote speech, pointed out the crisis of local extinction caused by population decline and aging in the provinces due to concentration in the metropolitan area, saying, "The risk of domestic major industrial cities turning into Rust Belt-like cities around the Great Lakes in the U.S., such as Detroit, which suffered from the decline of manufacturing, has become a reality."

He continued, "As a solution, it is necessary to strengthen Pohang's unique scientific and technological competitiveness," and proposed a plan to nurture global talent through POSTECH's glocal innovation planning to further enhance development strategies in the fields of 'secondary batteries,' 'advanced bio,' and 'hydrogen,' which are among the 12 national strategic technologies selected by the National Science and Technology Advisory Council.

Following this, Professor Ye Dong-geun of Pukyong National University emphasized the need for technology and manpower to develop and utilize marine fisheries and marine resources in the East Sea region, proposing the joint implementation of the 'Marine Fisheries Safety Verification System' to ensure marine fisheries safety and the launch of a 'joint project' for marine environment protection. He said that if technology and capital in these eco-friendly fields are concentrated, the economy of Korea-China cooperation will expand beyond its previous scope and develop into a cooperative relationship rather than competition, presenting a golden opportunity.

Professor Vadim Slapchenko of Hallym University said that to regain the momentum of Korea-Russia economic cooperation, which has decreased due to the Ukraine war, Russia's nuclear industry could be one of the new directions for cooperation. He highlighted that Rosatom, a Russian state-owned company, possesses fast neutron reactor technology that can reduce nuclear waste to nearly zero, solving the nuclear waste storage problem, and emphasized that Russia is the most open country to technology transfer cooperation with Korea compared to the U.S. and Europe.

Lee Myung-chan, former research fellow at the Northeast Asian History Foundation, explained that the U.S. currently views semiconductor policy closely linked to security and competes with China through regulations, but cooperates with Japan in the semiconductor field by leveraging Japan's strengths in semiconductor materials and equipment. He also noted that Korea has recently been actively pursuing economic cooperation with Japan, which had been frozen until now.

Following the thematic presentations, a discussion session was held chaired by Kim Jun-yeop, Director of the Kyung Hee University Institute of International Area Studies, with panelists including Kim Jun-hong, Professor of Smart Management at Pohang University, Choi Young-jun, Professor of Trade at Kyung Hee University, Bae Gyu-seong, Professor at the Institute of International Area Studies, and Bang Cheong-rok, Professor of International Language and Literature at Handong University, sharing visions and development strategies for Pohang.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, "Pohang City will strive to strengthen mutual cooperation with East Sea cities, continuously develop friendly relations among Korea, China, Russia, and Japan, and expand exchanges to secure innovative growth engines." He added, "With the recent designation of the secondary battery specialized complex and the final approval of the preliminary feasibility study for the hydrogen fuel cell cluster, Pohang is celebrating overlapping good news in the new growth future industry sector. Through this symposium, we will engage in various discussions for the future and unite efforts to present a new paradigm for the regional economy."

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