Pohang City to Respond to Industrial Crisis and Restore Livelihoods... Securing Future Growth Engines

Second National Budget Securing Briefing Session...
315 National Projects Worth 1.9153 Trillion Won Identified for Next Year
Focus on New Projects in Advanced Strategic Industries such as AI and Quantum Technology,
Steel, Secondary Batteries, and Follow-up Projects for Specialized Complexes

On the 10th, Pohang City held the '2026 2nd National Budget Securing Briefing Session' in the main conference room of City Hall, under the slogan 'Securing the National Budget to Contribute to Economic Vitality, Livelihood Stability, and Future Leap'.

On the 10th, Pohang City held the "2nd National Budget Securing Report Meeting for 2026" at City Hall under the slogan "Securing National Budget Contributing to Economic Vitality, Livelihood Stability, and Future Leap." Photo by Pohang City

This briefing session was organized to check whether preliminary procedures for new projects have been carried out before the full-scale budget formulation, and to devise strategies to enhance the justification and persuasiveness of the projects.

During the session, an overview of the overall proposals, explanations on domestic and international situations, and changes in government policies were provided. Afterwards, the status of securing national funding by department was shared, and future response strategies were discussed.

At this briefing, Pohang City identified a total of 315 projects worth 1.9153 trillion won. Among these, new projects account for 104 cases and 282.9 billion won, while ongoing projects account for 211 cases and 1.6324 trillion won.

By sector, Social Overhead Capital (SOC) was the largest at 821.7 billion won, followed by Research and Development (R&D) at 592.5 billion won, welfare and environment at 251.8 billion won, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries at 140.8 billion won, culture and tourism at 40.1 billion won, and others at 68.4 billion won.

Major new projects include: ▲ Pohang Yeongilman Port International Passenger Terminal Phase 2 Construction (10.1 billion won), ▲ Pohang Station Parking Lot Expansion (4.3 billion won), ▲ Hyeongsan River Environmental Maintenance (7.5 billion won), ▲ Quantum Technology Performance Test Environment Development (5 billion won), ▲ Local Digital Innovation Global AI Leading Company Fostering (2 billion won), ▲ Secondary Battery Recycled Material Stockpiling Center Establishment (20 billion won), ▲ Pohang Steel Industrial Complex Carbon-Neutral Resource Circulation Specialized Complex Development (800 million won), ▲ Global Industry-Academia Cooperation Center Construction (1 billion won), and others.

In addition, the city plans to secure budgets without omission for major ongoing projects such as: ▲ Old Industrial Complex Regeneration Project (5.6 billion won), ▲ Pohang Blue Valley National Industrial Complex Water Supply (4.4 billion won), ▲ National Pohang Specialized Science Museum Construction (8.5 billion won), ▲ 4th Generation Synchrotron Beamline Expansion (8 billion won), ▲ Glocal University 30 (POSTECH, Handong University) (53.6 billion won), ▲ Ocheon Hangsa Dam Construction (16.7 billion won), and others.

The city plans to actively discover and propose new projects in the fields of artificial intelligence and quantum technology to the government, in line with the government's proactive response to the intensifying global trade war and competition for leadership in advanced strategic industries.

In particular, as there is a possibility that next year's budget formulation policy may shift from the current 'sound finance' to 'active finance' due to the prolonged economic downturn, the city is accelerating efforts to include budgets for company support and follow-up projects for specialized complexes to overcome crises in the steel and secondary battery industries.

Starting in April, Pohang City plans to launch full-scale strategic activities in close cooperation with Gyeongbuk Province and local National Assembly members' offices to secure the national budget.

Vice Mayor Jang Sanggil stated, "The national budget is the result of meticulous strategy and constant collaboration, and now is the most important time to secure next year's budget," and urged, "Each department should take responsibility and communicate closely with central ministries to ensure that projects are reflected in the ministries' budgets."

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