The Gwangyang Bay area centered on Yeosu, Suncheon and Gwangyang in Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City is emerging as the raw materials heart of South Korea's battery industry.
Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City said on Sept. 30 that it is launching efforts to develop the area into a national supply chain base for basic raw materials and core components, after Gwangyang Bay was designated a specialized complex for secondary batteries under the national advanced strategic industries program. The complex covers six industrial parks in the Gwangyang Bay area, including the Yulchon No. 1 General Industrial Complex and the Haeryong General Industrial Complex, spanning 6.45 million pyeong, or about 21.3 million square meters.
The city plans to use the designation to have its key regional projects incorporated into the central government's development plan. It will also sharply expand core infrastructure needed for corporate investment, including water supply, wastewater treatment, electricity and access roads, centered on the Sepung Industrial Complex.
Administrative resources will focus in particular on accelerating the investment plans of companies already operating in or committed to the area, including POSCO Group affiliates. At the same time, the city intends to strategically attract firms in equipment, parts, battery cells, energy storage systems and used-battery recycling, segments that are relatively underrepresented in the Gwangyang Bay area.
The region encompasses both the starting and end points of the secondary battery industry. It already has an industrial base spanning the refining and smelting of basic raw materials such as lithium and nickel, the production of core materials including cathode materials and graphite, and the recycling of used batteries. A production system for raw materials and components with annual capacity of 83,000 metric tons is also in operation, led by POSCO affiliates.
The designation is expected to strengthen the raw materials and components segment, long cited as a weak link in the domestic secondary battery supply chain. Adding the Gwangyang Bay area's basic raw materials supply chain to the existing network of specialized complexes in Cheongju, Pohang, Ulsan and Saemangeum, which focus on cells and materials, is expected to improve the stability of the industry as a whole.
The city has built up its foundation for the secondary battery industry in stages. In 2023, it enacted an ordinance to promote the industry. In 2024, it designated the Gwangyang Bay area as an opportunity development zone. In 2025, it brought public attention to the area's role as a central pillar of the country's secondary battery supply chain through a National Assembly forum. In February this year, it signed agreements with 10 universities to build a cooperative system for training battery industry talent. It then submitted a development plan for the specialized complex to the central government and secured the final designation after presentation reviews in May and July.
The government newly designated three national advanced strategic industry specialized complexes this time, covering robotics, defense and secondary batteries. It plans to support a combined 12.99 trillion won ($9.3 billion) in private investment through 2042.
By sector, Gumi and Pohang in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province were selected for robotics, Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province for defense, and Gwangyang, Yeosu and Suncheon in Jeonnam for secondary batteries.
With the designation, the city has secured another growth engine for future industries, following its earlier success in attracting a semiconductor fabrication plant. It has also established a national institutional foundation for expanding the Gwangyang Bay area's existing industrial base into a strategic industry at the level of the integrated metropolitan city.
"With this designation, the Gwangyang Bay area has become a national strategic base responsible for South Korea's battery supply chain," Min Hyung-bae, mayor of Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City, said. "Now we must produce results worthy of the name specialized complex." He added, "We will create an industrial ecosystem where companies want to invest, where technology and talent gather, and where good jobs increase. We will grow the Gwangyang Bay area into a new standard for South Korea's secondary battery industry."
