Pohang City and POSTECH Promote Establishment of 'Global Secondary Battery Research Center'

Establishing Joint Technology Development Platform with Prestigious Overseas Universities like Harvard, MIT, and UC Berkeley

Global Cooperation to Seize Secondary Battery Technology Supremacy... Leap to Become the World's No.1 Secondary Battery Cit

Pohang City, together with POSTECH, is embarking on a full-scale initiative to establish a global secondary battery research center linked with leading overseas universities and research centers such as Harvard and MIT, which possess the world’s highest research standards and competitiveness.

Pohang City and POSTECH are promoting the establishment of a Global Secondary Battery Research Center.

The city foresees that the intensifying competition for technological supremacy in secondary battery technology among major countries like the United States and China will elevate securing ultra-advanced technology for next-generation secondary battery materials to a core national survival and development task, prompting proactive measures.

Pohang City plans to lead the way for South Korea to leap forward as a world-class battery powerhouse by creating a global research cooperation ecosystem that secures ultra-advanced technology in secondary battery materials and preempts future strategic technologies.

To this end, Pohang City aims to attract a world-class secondary battery materials research center centered on POSTECH, collaborating with overseas secondary battery R&D universities and centers such as MIT, Harvard, and UC Berkeley, serving as a platform for joint technology development. It will also promote the establishment of a global industry-academia-research integrated research center involving major domestic universities, R&D research institutes, and secondary battery companies.

The global secondary battery research center will secure ultra-advanced technologies in secondary battery material design, processes, and manufacturing, and through applying technology development on-site, enable secondary battery companies to preempt future strategic technologies.

Alongside this, the plan includes building a global industry-academia-research cooperation network to establish a core materials-focused R&D hub through joint technology development collaborations among global research institutions, domestic and international universities, and secondary battery companies.

Through operating the global research center, Pohang City expects to strengthen glocal company growth and industrial competitiveness by providing customized technology development for secondary battery material companies, and to secure sustainability in the materials industry centered on specialized complexes by establishing a domestic and international secondary battery materials technology cooperation ecosystem.

The city, together with POSTECH, intends to actively request government support and begin concrete discussions with related universities and research institutes to accelerate the establishment of the research center.

In July, Pohang designated the Yeongilman Industrial Complex and Blue Valley Industrial Complex as specialized secondary battery complexes, planning to use them as innovation hubs to enhance national industrial competitiveness and secure global leadership in the secondary battery industry.

To this end, the city will promote innovative growth through initiatives such as the Battery Global Innovation Zone and Opportunity Development Zone, and focus on expanding infrastructure for attracting corporate investment, including regulatory exemptions, tax benefits, and industrial complex expansion. In particular, Pohang will concentrate on securing national funding to promptly expand essential infrastructure such as water supply and wastewater treatment, power facilities, and roads in the Yeongilman and Blue Valley Industrial Complexes, and will continue cooperating with relevant central government ministries and related agencies to ensure early completion and establishment of infrastructure.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, “As the technological supremacy competition among major countries intensifies day by day, it is urgent for South Korea to secure an advantage through technology development and environmental creation in cooperation with domestic and international related organizations. We will do our utmost to ensure that Pohang City plays a leading role as a global ultra-advanced technology leader and platform in the secondary battery industry through the establishment of the research center.”

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