Wonju City Enters "Culture-Led Industrial Complex" Competition...Creating a K-Food and Healthcare Convergence Hub

Wonju City Enters MOTIE's "Culture-Led Industrial Complex" Competition
Transforming Industrial Complexes from Mere Workplaces into Spaces Where Culture and Life Coexist
Maximizing the Spatial Potential of Industrial Complexes

On February 6, Wonju City in Gangwon Province submitted its bid for selection in the "Culture-Led Industrial Complex Competition," which is being promoted as part of the "Plan to Create Industrial Complexes Embracing Culture" announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in December last year.

Wonju City to Compete in Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Culture-Leading Industrial Complex' Contest. Provided by Wonju City

This competition project aims to develop industrial complexes in which local communities and the private sector take the lead and exercise creativity and autonomy, focusing on four key strategies: improving the image of industrial complexes, expanding cultural facilities within the complexes, supporting cultural content, and spreading the convergence of manufacturing and culture.

Wonju City noted that, although industrial complexes serve as core hubs of the local economy, they lack cultural, leisure, and rest infrastructure to a significant degree. In response, the city entered this competition with Usan General Industrial Complex, which has recently attracted attention as global food company Samyang Foods has moved in, and Taejang Agro-Industrial Complex, where advanced healthcare companies are clustered based on skilled electrical and mechanical technologies.

Through this initiative, the city aims to integrate cultural, welfare, and environmental elements into industrial complexes to reconvert them into new growth engines, elevate them into new hubs for industry and culture, and transform them into spaces where young people and workers stay, grow together with the region, and build their lives.

In particular, the city is pursuing the creation of a youth-centered, culture-led industrial complex that integrates industry and culture, where work, culture, and experiential activities coexist, by combining smart technologies and the healthcare industry around the global food industry.

Through this competition, Wonju City plans to focus on: creating a global landmark with K-Food as the core theme; establishing smart and wellness-oriented workplaces where young people can work happily; and operating programs to revitalize industrial complexes in connection with cultural content.

Meanwhile, Wonju City has continued various efforts to advance industrial complexes and lay the foundation for new growth. It has supported hardware development such as the establishment of the National Gangwon Science Museum, the creation of Gangwon Wonju Green Startup Town, the operation of a youth support center, and the construction of Wonju City Museum of Art, while also continuously operating a variety of cultural content, including the Wonju Ramen Festa, Wonju Dumpling Festival, Weekend Night Market, Highball Festival, Chicken and Beer Festival, and Wonju Science Festival.

Wonju City plans to create a youth-friendly working environment through the development of a culture-led industrial complex and to improve both corporate satisfaction and residential conditions. The city also intends to resolve the physical and emotional disconnection between industrial complexes and nearby areas and to build an industrial complex model that coexists with local residents.

Mayor Won Kangsoo said, "This Culture-Led Industrial Complex competition is an important opportunity that will determine the future competitiveness of our industrial complexes," adding, "We will spare no administrative support and effort to combine Wonju’s unique cultural resources with its industrial infrastructure, create a best-practice case for innovation in industrial complexes, and establish a leading model that can be replicated nationwide."

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