Pohang has long been a symbol of South Korea's industrialization. With the establishment of POSCO, the steel industry became a driving force behind the nation's economic growth, elevating Pohang to the status of an industrial capital. However, the era of artificial intelligence (AI) is posing new questions for this steel city. The age has begun where cities that best utilize data, rather than those that produce the most molten steel, will hold the competitive edge.
AI is establishing itself as a core technology that optimizes production processes in steel mills, predicts quality, reduces energy consumption, and even prevents industrial accidents. Pohang's newly elected mayor, Park Yong-sun, views these changes as opportunities for future growth.
He has outlined a vision to transform Pohang's industrial structure, focusing on AI, data, smart manufacturing, secondary batteries, and advanced materials. Plans include establishing an AI Future Talent Academy, promoting AI transportation innovations, and building smart community centers, all aimed at integrating AI into both industry and citizens' daily lives.
The question is clear.
Can Pohang truly become the capital of AI smart manufacturing in South Korea?
From Steel City to AI Industrial City
Pohang has been a steel city for a long time. However, the steel industry now finds it increasingly difficult to maintain competitiveness without AI. AI predicts equipment failures throughout the steel mill, automatically controls production processes, reduces defect rates, and enhances energy efficiency.
Mayor Park views this transformation as a new opportunity for Pohang's industry. He envisions expanding the steel-centered industrial structure to include AI, data, smart manufacturing, secondary batteries, and advanced materials, aiming to establish Pohang as the future industrial capital of South Korea. Attracting high-tech companies like Samsung Electronics and LG, promoting a national strategic advanced materials free zone, and fostering the graphene industry are all part of this vision.
Steel is not a finished industry; it is evolving through AI. Pohang could be the first city to experiment with this change.
AI Talent Will Shape the City's Future
The core of the AI industry is its people. One of Mayor Park's key pledges is the establishment of the Pohang Future Talent Academy. This initiative aims to create an employment-linked education platform involving POSCO, POSCO Future M, local businesses, and universities to directly train talent in AI, data, smart manufacturing, robotics, secondary batteries, and advanced materials.
In the AI era, talent moves before factories do.
Companies will go where the talent is. With Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), RIST, and world-class research infrastructure, combined with a system for training AI specialists, Pohang has the potential to grow into a hub for manufacturing innovation.
AI Transportation Revolution Begins with Citizens' Lives
Mayor Park's AI policies extend beyond industry. He has proposed an AI transportation innovation as a key pledge, which is rare nationwide. This includes a system that allows bus access through facial recognition and technology that analyzes pedestrian speed to automatically adjust traffic light timings. Plans also include expanding low-floor buses and developing an AI transportation system focused on individuals with mobility challenges.
AI is not just a grand future technology. It is about making it easier for citizens to ride buses and ensuring that the elderly can cross streets safely.
Pohang is also a city that aims to utilize AI in the most accessible ways for its residents.
Smart Community Centers as the Starting Point for AI Welfare
Pohang has entered an ultra-aged society. To address this reality, Mayor Park has announced plans to convert 641 community centers into smart community centers. This initiative will establish systems for measuring blood pressure and blood sugar, ICT health management, and services linked to health centers, transforming these centers into "local AI health hubs."
AI is not a technology that increases welfare costs. It is a means to utilize limited welfare personnel more efficiently and to continuously manage the health of the elderly.
Pohang has chosen a strategy to actively employ AI not only in industry but also in welfare.
Smart Manufacturing Will Revitalize South Korea's Manufacturing Sector
At the heart of the AI manufacturing revolution is the smart factory. Pohang is home to a concentration of companies in secondary batteries and advanced materials, including POSCO. AI autonomously controls production equipment, predicts quality, and optimizes supply chains. Reducing carbon emissions and increasing productivity are also roles of AI.
Mayor Park's AI and data-centered industrial policy is ultimately a project to transform Pohang into a city of smart manufacturing innovation. The future of South Korea's manufacturing lies not in building more factories but in creating smarter ones.
Pohang can stand at the center of this change.
Steel and AI Together Open New Global Markets
The global steel industry is also changing rapidly. Carbon neutrality and digital transformation are determining new competitive advantages. Technologies for predictive maintenance, production optimization, and energy savings using AI have already become core strategies for global steel companies.
If Pohang leads this trend, it can leap from being a mere steel city to an AI-based advanced manufacturing city.
Mayor Park's proposed strategy for a future industrial transformation is ultimately a blueprint to elevate Pohang's industrial competitiveness back to world-class levels.
Mayor Park's AI strategy connects industry, education, transportation, and welfare. AI smart manufacturing, future talent development, AI transportation innovation, and smart community centers all aim toward a single goal: making Pohang the central city of South Korea's AI manufacturing revolution.
Can the city that led South Korea's industrialization also lead the AI industrial revolution? Pohang, the steel city, is now challenging itself toward a new future as the capital of AI smart manufacturing.
: Park Yong-sun, Mayor of Pohang :
Mayor Park has served as a member of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council and has been active in regional industrial policy and future strategy. He was elected as the mayor of Pohang in the 9th civil election.
He has presented a core pledge to transition Pohang's steel-centered industrial structure to one focused on AI, data, smart manufacturing, secondary batteries, and advanced materials. He is also pursuing policies to integrate AI into citizens' lives, such as establishing the Pohang Future Talent Academy, implementing facial recognition buses, and developing AI pedestrian safety systems and smart community centers.
His vision is to elevate Pohang from a symbol of South Korea's industrialization to a central city in the AI manufacturing revolution.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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