Ulsan-Pohang-Gyeongju Haeoreum Alliance Regional Promotion Team... Sets Sail for a New Beginning

Launch Ceremony to Be Held at Gyeongju Smart Media Center on the 23rd
Toward the Industrial Metropolitan Area with the Establishment of the Haeoreum Industrial and Tourism Belt

The ‘Haeoreum Alliance Metropolitan Promotion Team,’ which will serve as the central axis for sustainable development and mutual cooperation among the three cities of Ulsan, Pohang, and Gyeongju, will hold its official launch ceremony at 3 p.m. on the 23rd at the Gyeongju Smart Media Center, marking a new beginning.

The launch ceremony will be attended by Kim Doo-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan; Kim Jong-seop, Acting Chairperson of the Ulsan City Council; Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang; Kim Il-man, Chairperson of the Pohang City Council; Joo Nak-young, Mayor of Gyeongju; Lee Dong-hyup, Chairperson of the Gyeongju City Council; and Woo Dong-gi, Chairman of the Local Era Committee. The event will include progress reports, congratulatory speeches, signing of a joint petition, and a plaque unveiling ceremony.

At the launch ceremony, the mayors of the three cities will jointly propose to the government and the National Assembly the following: ▲ support for hosting the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit ▲ designation of Ulsan as a proactive industrial crisis response area to enhance competitiveness in the petrochemical industry ▲ designation of Pohang as a special industrial crisis response area to overcome crises in the steel and secondary battery industries. They will unite their intentions to create a new model of regional coexistence and national balanced development.

The Haeoreum Alliance Metropolitan Promotion Team is a metropolitan cooperation organization jointly operated by the three cities of Ulsan, Pohang, and Gyeongju. Following the agreement to establish a permanent cooperation body at the regular meeting in the second half of 2023, it was initially set up as a preparatory team within one team unit at the Ulsan City Hall in July 2024 and has since been expanded and reorganized.

Comprising a Grade 4 director and a total of nine staff members?three from each of Ulsan, Pohang, and Gyeongju?the office is located at the Gyeongju Smart Media Center, which is the midpoint among the three cities.

The Haeoreum Alliance Metropolitan Promotion Team plans to take a leading role in discovering and promoting joint cooperative projects across economic, tourism, and cultural sectors among the three cities, as well as in enacting related special laws to overcome regional extinction and industrial crises caused by concentration in the metropolitan area and to advance the industrial metropolitan area.

In particular, with the official launch of the promotion team on this day, the legislative push for the ‘Special Act on Support for the Haeoreum Industrial Belt,’ aimed at strengthening the industrial ecosystem and enhancing urban competitiveness of the three cities, is expected to gain significant momentum.

This bill aims to overcome regional extinction and industrial crises caused by metropolitan concentration and includes provisions such as ▲ establishment of a metropolitan transportation network ▲ support for the energy industry ▲ lifting of development restriction zones ▲ special cases regarding designation and development of industrial complexes.

Kim Doo-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan, said, “The Haeoreum Alliance is a symbol of cooperation where the three cities have joined hands and walked the path of coexistence. I hope that the metropolitan promotion team, which will serve as the new focal point of the Haeoreum Alliance starting from today’s launch, will actively discover and promote various joint cooperative projects and core initiatives to yield valuable results in urban growth.”

The Haeoreum Alliance was formed in 2016 following the opening of the Ulsan?Pohang Expressway, grouping Ulsan, Pohang, and Gyeongju into the same living area. It is an administrative consultative body aimed at joint development, continuing economic, cultural, and social exchanges, and striving to create a sustainable development model.

'Haeoreum Alliance City'. Asia Economy DB

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