Yoon Visits Saemangeum, a Regulatory Innovation Success Site, Pledges Support

President Yoon Attends 'Saemangeum Secondary Battery Investment Agreement Ceremony' in Jeonbuk During Vacation
Promised Saemangeum Support Since President-Elect Period... Praised Innovation Achievements at Cabinet Meeting

President Yoon Suk-yeol attended the Saemangeum secondary battery investment agreement ceremony on the 2nd, urging domestic and foreign companies to invest and promising government-level support. Earlier, the government designated Saemangeum as an investment promotion zone and a high-tech industry specialized complex, reforming regulations and improving the investment environment for companies through tax and budget support.

The agreement ceremony held in the afternoon at the Gunsan Saemangeum Convention Center (GSCO) in Jeonbuk was arranged for LS Group to sign an investment agreement with related organizations such as the Saemangeum Development Agency and Jeollabuk-do to build a secondary battery core material manufacturing facility worth about 1.84 trillion won in the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex. About 200 people attended, including executives and employees of the investing company, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, members of the National Assembly, and local residents.

President Yoon has promised support within Saemangeum since his presidential candidacy. In April last year, when he was president-elect, he visited Jeonbuk and said, "I will make Saemangeum and Jeollabuk-do regions bustling with companies, where anyone can come and freely make money." In the Cabinet meeting last June, he also pointed to Saemangeum as an achievement of the current government's regulatory innovation. At that time, President Yoon stated, "Since the establishment of the Saemangeum Development Agency in 2013, the investment attraction scale of the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex was 1.5 trillion won over nine years, but in one year after our government took office, 30 companies decided on investments exceeding four times that amount, totaling 6.6 trillion won."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering an encouragement speech at the 'Saemangeum Secondary Battery Investment Agreement Ceremony' held on the 2nd at the Gunsan Saemangeum Convention Center (GSCO) in Jeonbuk.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Government-level support continues. Last month, the government announced the 'National High-tech Strategic Industry Secondary Battery Specialized Complex,' including Saemangeum. Since the end of last year, the government has been promoting the designation of specialized complexes to enhance national competitiveness in advanced technologies such as semiconductors, displays, and secondary batteries. Companies entering the specialized complex will receive comprehensive government support, including infrastructure construction and simplification of permit procedures.

The Jeonbuk Research Institute estimates that the production inducement effect of the Saemangeum specialized complex designation will be 8.5 trillion won, and the employment inducement effect will be 32,000 people. It also forecasts that Jeonbuk's share of the regional gross domestic product (GRDP) will rise from 2.7% nationwide in 2021 to 3.5% in 2028.

The government views LS Group's investment of about 1.8 trillion won as highly significant in that it localizes secondary battery materials and establishes a stable and independent supply chain. A government official said, "We expect that the synergy created by the two national high-tech industrial complexes in Wanju and Iksan, Jeonbuk, designated in March, and Saemangeum will play a key role in the development of Jeonbuk."

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