Creation of a corporate innovation park in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province… Developing it into a mobility hub

A mobility innovation park where automobile industry-related companies gather will be created in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province.

In addition to tax support for companies moving in, such as corporate tax exemption and up to 50% reduction in acquisition and property taxes for three years, government funds such as infrastructure improvement are also provided.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 26th that Dangjin was selected following Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do as a result of the contest for the corporate innovation park leading project at a public livelihood debate chaired by President Yoon Seok-yeol held in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.

President Yoon Seok-yeol is speaking at the 15th People’s Livelihood Debate held at Seosan Airport in South Chungcheong Province on the 26th under the theme of ‘Chungcheongnam-do, full of vitality for the people’s livelihood through future industries.’ (Photo = Office of the President)

The Corporate Innovation Park is a project to create a corporate-led complex city by directly selecting the location, planning, capital procurement, development, and use by the company.

The corporate innovation park in Dangjin will be built on a 501,664㎡ site in Songak-eup.

The Dangjin Corporate Innovation Park leading project was exclusively proposed by SK Rent-a-Car. SK Rent-a-Car signed an investment agreement with Dangjin City in 2022 to gather 10 logistics centers across the country in Dangjin City. We also secured letters of intent from 35 related companies. Through this, the goal was to create a mobility innovation park that integrates automobile industry value chain companies.

The planned site for the Corporate Innovation Park is close to national transportation infrastructure such as Dangjin Pyeongtaek Port and the West Coast Expressway, Dangjin City’s old downtown, Asan National Industrial Complex, and Songsan 2 General Industrial Complex. It was evaluated that it could utilize infrastructure such as transportation, education, and medical care created in existing local bases.

Bird’s eye view of Dangjin Corporate Innovation Park proposal

Along with the results of the selection of leading projects, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also announced additional support plans for the Corporate Innovation Park.

Various government support is provided to companies located in the Corporate Innovation Park. 100% corporate tax exemption for 3 years and 50% income tax exemption for 2 years. In local taxes, acquisition tax and property tax are reduced by up to 50%. You can also utilize the ‘Regional Revitalization Investment Fund’ worth 300 billion won created through investments from government finance, Korea Development Bank, and local extinction response funds.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, in consultation with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, plans to subsidize 50% of the budget for the installation of access roads to the Enterprise Innovation Park with national funds. Public wastewater treatment facilities are planned to be subsidized by the government at the same level as industrial complexes.

Corporate Innovation Park project operators are also provided with benefits such as land eminent domain when owning more than 50% of the development area, corporate tax reduction (50% for 3 years, 25% for 2 years), and special building-to-land ratio and floor area ratio (1.5 times the national law).

At the same time as promoting the corporate innovation park, which is a company-led development method, we are also accelerating the creation of a ‘national industrial complex’, which is a state-led industrial location supply method.

The Nonsan National Defense Industrial Complex, officially designated last January, is Korea’s first defense-specialized national industrial complex and plans to be created as a defense industry cluster centered on power support that produces equipment and materials excluding weapons. Nonsan National Defense Industrial Complex promotes projects in conjunction with nearby organizations such as the Army, Navy and Air Force Headquarters, Army Training Center, National Defense University, and Army Aviation School.

Among the 15 candidate sites for new national industrial complexes announced at the 14th Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting, the government plans to quickly promote national industrial complexes in Cheonan and Hongseong, which are specialized for future mobility.

The goal is to complete a preliminary feasibility study by public institutions within the year and lay the foundation for construction to begin within President Yoon’s term by approving the industrial complex plan and designating and notifying the industrial complex in 2026.

In addition to supplying industrial locations, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is also promoting the ‘Giant Small Smart City Creation Project’, which supports smart solutions based on information and communication technology (ICT) to help small and medium-sized cities respond to environmental changes such as climate crisis and regional extinction.

In South Chungcheong Province, Taean-gun and Asan City were selected for the small-sized smart city creation project in May last year and are preparing to begin the project.

Taean-gun responds to the problem of regional extinction by applying smart solutions that allow users to experience future cutting-edge mobility and tourism resources, such as demand-responsive buses and drone delivery.

Asan City plans to create space by utilizing idle facilities and camping sites in the city, and promote the revitalization of the local economy through electronic citizenship cards and smart offices.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to actively cooperate with each local government and participating organizations, including providing timely national funding, to ensure that the construction of smart cities in Taean-gun and Asan-si proceeds without a hitch.

Lee Sang-joo, head of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Urban Affairs, said, “We will quickly promote the project to bring vitality and warmth to local areas through the corporate innovation park and national industrial complex,” and added, “We will actively cooperate with companies and regions during the implementation process to provide all-round support.” “We will come up with a plan,” he said.