HONGSEONG — South Chungcheong Province has designated economic and industrial functions as its priority target in the government's second round of relocating public institutions out of the greater Seoul area.
The province said on the 7th that it is seeking to attract 14 institutions, including Industrial Bank of Korea (024110), the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation.
The strategy is to cluster policy finance, industrial technology and export support functions to build an industrial innovation hub that strengthens the competitiveness of national manufacturing.
In policy finance, Industrial Bank of Korea, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation would support corporate investment and exports.
The province counts Industrial Bank of Korea among its top targets. South Chungcheong has a manufacturing-centered industrial structure but no regional bank, and expanding the policy finance base needed to support industrial transition and corporate growth has long been an unresolved task.
If Industrial Bank of Korea relocates together with the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation and KOTRA, the province expects to build a support system linking corporate investment, export financing and overseas market entry.
Adding the Korea Venture Investment Corp. would further expand the supply of venture capital to technology-based startups and innovative firms, officials said.
In industrial development, the province plans to link the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and the Korea Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship to support technological innovation and industrial transition.
South Chungcheong hosts a concentration of advanced manufacturing and large-scale production sites, giving it the conditions to apply research and development results to actual industry and commercialize them.
If research and industrial support bodies such as KIST and the Korea Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship move in, the province expects to closely connect advanced technology R&D with production sites and build an industrial innovation ecosystem extending from technology validation and commercialization to innovation at smaller firms.
"Placing policy finance, research and development, and industrial support functions together on top of a manufacturing base will be effective in raising manufacturing competitiveness not only for South Chungcheong but for the country," a provincial official said. "Centered on the economic and industrial function group, we will organically connect policy finance, technological innovation and export support to create a hub for Korean manufacturing innovation."
South Chungcheong is an industrial center where South Korea's mainstay manufacturing sectors — semiconductors, displays, automobiles and petrochemicals — are concentrated. Exports in the first half of this year reached $97.8 billion, or 19.7% of the national total of $496.3 billion, ranking second nationwide after Gyeonggi Province. Memory chips accounted for $59.2 billion of that figure, driving national exports.
The province recently presented the economic and industrial function group as a core strategy for securing future industrial competitiveness, drawing up its recruitment plan around the two pillars of policy finance and industrial development.
Behind the move is a growing need to build an industrial ecosystem that combines financing, investment and export support functions alongside technology development, in response to shifts in the industrial environment such as artificial intelligence-driven industrial transition, supply chain realignment and carbon neutrality.
In policy finance, Industrial Bank of Korea, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, KOTRA and the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation would support corporate investment and exports.
In industrial development, the plan is to link KIST and the Korea Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship to support technological innovation and industrial transition.
Concentrating the relevant institutions in South Chungcheong would allow demand from companies and production sites to be closely connected with policy finance, R&D and export support functions, the province said.
◇ Industrial Bank of Korea Relocation, a Financial Hub for Manufacturing Innovation
One of the institutions the province is pushing hardest to attract is Industrial Bank of Korea.
South Chungcheong has a manufacturing-centered industrial structure but no regional bank, and expanding the policy finance base needed to support industrial transition and corporate growth has long been an unresolved task.
The second round of relocations offers an opportunity to close that financing gap. If Industrial Bank of Korea relocates together with the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation and KOTRA, the province can build a support system linking corporate investment, export financing and overseas market entry.
Adding the Korea Venture Investment Corp. would further expand the supply of venture capital to technology-based startups and innovative firms.
◇ In the Age of AI Transformation, Manufacturing Innovation Happens on the Factory Floor
The government is pursuing artificial intelligence transformation and advanced manufacturing innovation as national growth strategies.
South Chungcheong hosts a concentration of advanced manufacturing and large-scale production sites, giving it the conditions to apply research and development results to actual industry and commercialize them.
If research and industrial support bodies such as KIST and the Korea Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship also move in, the province says it can closely connect advanced technology R&D with production sites and build an industrial innovation ecosystem extending from technology validation and commercialization to innovation at smaller firms.
The province believes that placing policy finance, research and development, and industrial support functions together on top of a manufacturing base will be effective in raising manufacturing competitiveness not only for South Chungcheong but for the country as a whole.
"South Chungcheong is a region where the nation's mainstay industries are concentrated, so changes on the factory floor here translate directly into national industrial competitiveness," a provincial official said. "Centered on the economic and industrial function group, we will organically connect policy finance, technological innovation and export support to create a hub for Korean manufacturing innovation."
