Jeonnam Province Establishes Strategies to Advance Key Issues Reflected in National Agenda

69 Core Projects Reflected to Drive Future Growth
Securing Momentum for National Funding and State Plan Inclusion

Jeonnam Province Governor Kim Youngrok is presiding over a strategy briefing session for the new government's national agenda at the Seo Jae-pil Room in the provincial office on the 25th. Provided by Jeonnam Province

On September 25, Jeonnam Province held a National Task Implementation Strategy Report Meeting at the Seo Jae-pil Room of the Provincial Office, presided over by Governor Kim Youngrok, where strategies were developed to advance key projects reflected in the new government's national agenda.

At the Cabinet meeting on September 16, 69 core projects that will drive Jeonnam's future growth, such as the establishment of a national medical school and the introduction of an energy basic income, were included in the national agenda of the Lee Jaemyung administration.

By securing national funding and reflecting these projects in state plans, Jeonnam Province has gained new momentum for regional development.

Since January of this year, in preparation for the early presidential election, Jeonnam Province, together with the Jeonnam Research Institute, identified "Jeonnam Future Development Large-scale Projects," proposed them as presidential pledges, and, through persistent persuasion by Governor Kim Youngrok and all provincial staff who visited central government agencies, the National Policy Planning Committee, and the National Assembly, achieved these significant results.

Among the projects, the establishment of a national medical school at Jeonnam Integrated University was included in "National Task 84: Addressing Regional Disparities, Expanding Essential Medical Services, and Strengthening Public Healthcare." The goal is to open the school in the 2027 academic year and establish both a national medical school and a tertiary general hospital, thereby creating a comprehensive local medical system where residents can receive treatment within the region.

The creation of the Solaseado AI Energy Cluster was reflected in two national tasks: "National Task 20: Building an AI Highway to Become a Top 3 AI Powerhouse" and "National Task 39: Energy Transition Centered on Renewable Energy."

As a result, the development of Solaseado as a future energy city will be accelerated. In particular, Solaseado has drawn attention as a candidate for large-scale local city and industrial complex development support, as mentioned by the President at the 100th-day press conference after taking office. There are expectations for the construction of a self-sustaining city with a population of 100,000 based on an RE100 industrial complex.

Governor Kim Youngrok stated, "I highly welcome the agreement reached during the President's visit to the United States with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to cooperate in developing Korea into an Asia-Pacific AI hub."

BlackRock is the world's largest asset management company, managing $12.5 trillion (about 1,700 trillion won) in assets, and is planning massive investments, potentially amounting to tens of trillions of won, in Korean artificial intelligence and data centers.

He emphasized, "The key is a hyperscale AI data center based on renewable energy. Jeonnam is the most suitable region to attract such an AI data center, as it has abundant renewable energy, sufficient water resources, and vast development sites."

He further instructed, "Since Jeonnam Province declared its intention to attract an AI data center in February, work closely with the government and make every effort to secure the renewable energy-based AI data center that BlackRock is currently considering for Jeonnam."

In addition, the "Petrochemical and Steel Industry Transformation Mega Project," which is expected to revitalize the Yeosu and Gwangyang industrial complexes suffering from the recent economic downturn, has been included in three areas of the national agenda.

The Korean-style smart port development project at Gwangyang Port was included in "National Task 56: Building a K-Maritime Powerhouse Leading the Era of Arctic Routes," enabling Jeonnam Province to lay the foundation for leading the development of Arctic shipping routes.

With these inclusions, Jeonnam can accelerate the establishment of an energy hub port utilizing its strengths in crude oil, chemicals, steel, and energy industries, as well as the creation of an LNG bunkering base and ship repair dockyard.

The inclusion of energy basic income in the national agenda is also a significant achievement.

Governor Kim stated, "Since taking office as governor in 2018, the first thing I wanted to realize for the residents was energy basic income. Although there have been difficulties due to power grid issues, now that it has been included as a core policy of the new government, let us swiftly and broadly advance the renewable energy profit-sharing system."

Other projects that have gained momentum through their inclusion in the national agenda include: the establishment of a second space center in the Goheung Space Launch Vehicle Special Zone (National Task 28); the creation of an AI advanced agri-livestock convergence district (National Task 68); the development of the Southwest Coast National Marine Ecological Park (National Task 71); and the expansion of wide-area road and rail networks (National Task 57).

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