Yeosu National Industrial Complex, a key driver of South Korea's industrialization, stands at a pivotal moment. As global competition in the petrochemical sector intensifies and carbon neutrality becomes a new standard for the world economy, industrial complexes can no longer rely solely on production facilities to compete. The focus has shifted to how quickly AI can be integrated to enhance productivity and safety while transitioning to future industries.
Yeosu Mayor Seo Young-hak views this transformation as an opportunity for regional revitalization. He envisions restructuring the Yeosu National Industrial Complex into an eco-friendly, high-value-added industry while simultaneously promoting AI-based administration, healthcare, transportation, and industrial innovation. His plan includes establishing the Yeosu Future Fund to expand investments in AI and future industries, aiming to elevate the city as South Korea's representative smart industrial city.
The question is clear.
Can Yeosu truly become the center of South Korea's AI petrochemical revolution?
The future of the national industrial complex will be determined by AI.
Yeosu National Industrial Complex is one of South Korea's largest petrochemical industrial complexes.
However, maintaining global competitiveness through traditional mass production methods is becoming increasingly difficult.
AI can analyze production processes in real time, predict equipment failures, and optimize energy consumption.
It is also a key technology for reducing carbon emissions and enhancing production efficiency.
Mayor Seo has pledged to transition the petrochemical-centric industrial structure to an eco-friendly, high-value-added industry while nurturing future strategic industries such as aerospace, drones, secondary batteries, and hydrogen.
AI could become the most powerful tool for transforming the Yeosu National Industrial Complex.
AI creates safer industrial complexes.
In an industrial complex, productivity is not the only priority.
Safety is paramount.
Yeosu City has identified safety management and competitiveness enhancement as key tasks through its comprehensive AI plan.
The goal is to establish a system that utilizes AI and data to detect equipment anomalies early and predict accident risks. A 'Yeosu AI Comprehensive Plan' encompassing administration, industry, tourism, and safety is also being pursued.
AI is not just a technology for responding to accidents; it is a technology for preventing them.
In industrial cities, the importance of AI safety management is even greater.
AI administration changes citizens' lives.
Mayor Seo has proposed AI as a core means of administrative innovation.
He aims to implement citizen-centered administration through AI-based civil service, data-driven policy decisions, and an AI disaster response system.
Reducing civil service processing times and executing budgets and policies based on data can significantly enhance citizen satisfaction.
Administration in the AI era is not merely about processing paperwork.
It is evolving into a platform that analyzes the city in real time and provides the most suitable services to citizens.
AI connects healthcare and welfare.
Yeosu is rapidly aging.
Mayor Seo has promised to strengthen the healthcare safety net for the elderly by expanding AI-based medical infrastructure and home care services.
AI health management and personalized care services can offer new opportunities to citizens with limited access to healthcare. Plans are also in place to link dedicated nursing systems with AI-based medical infrastructure to address the needs of an aging society.
AI is not a technology that replaces medical personnel; it is a technology that enables more comprehensive care.
AI transforms transportation and tourism.
Yeosu is a leading marine tourism city in South Korea.
AI can innovate not only industries but also tourism and transportation.
Mayor Seo has promised a demand-responsive transportation system, including 'buses that come when called,' along with data-driven transportation innovations.
He aims to promote AI-based tourism services and enhance stay-oriented tourism, connecting the industrial and tourism sectors.
Yeosu is a city where the sea, islands, and industry coexist.
AI could serve as a connective technology that unites these three elements into a single competitive advantage.
The Future Fund will sow the seeds of the AI industry.
The AI industry cannot grow solely on technology.
Investment is essential.
Mayor Seo announced plans to establish the Yeosu Future Fund to expand investments in future industries, youth entrepreneurship, and high-tech companies.
The goal is to create a virtuous cycle where good ideas meet capital, companies grow, and jobs are created.
The competitiveness of cities in the AI era depends not on how many companies are attracted but on how long innovative companies can thrive within a supportive ecosystem.
Preparing for the future with a comprehensive AI plan.
Yeosu City has already begun developing a comprehensive AI plan targeting 2027 to 2029.
This long-term strategy aims to integrate AI across all aspects of city governance, including administration, industry, tourism, welfare, and safety.
Plans are in place to discover and gradually implement region-specific AI policies that reflect Yeosu's characteristics as both a petrochemical industrial city and a marine tourism city.
AI is not just a project; it is an operational method that can transform the entire city.
The AI comprehensive plan being pursued by Yeosu could serve as a starting point for institutional support for this transformation.
Mayor Seo's AI strategy connects industry, administration, welfare, and tourism.
The transformation of national industrial complexes, AI administrative innovation, AI healthcare, smart transportation, and the cultivation of future industries all aim toward a single goal.
That goal is to establish Yeosu as South Korea's representative AI industrial city.
If steel made Pohang and semiconductors made Yongin, then AI could become the new driving force for the growth of Yeosu National Industrial Complex.
If Yeosu rewrites the success formula of industrial cities through AI, it could very well become a new model for innovation in South Korea's industrial complexes.
:Seo Young-hak, Mayor of Yeosu:
Seo Young-hak, the Mayor of Yeosu, is an administrative expert with experience in both local and central government. He was elected as the Mayor of Yeosu in the 9th local election. He has set the transition of the Yeosu National Industrial Complex to eco-friendly, high-value-added industries as a core policy goal, highlighting AI-based administrative innovation, the cultivation of future industries, the establishment of AI healthcare infrastructure, and data-driven transportation and smart administration as key pledges.
Additionally, he envisions expanding the investment base for AI and advanced industries through the Yeosu Future Fund and promoting digital transformation across administration, industry, tourism, and safety through the AI comprehensive plan.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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