Busan Port Authority and the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency are launching the 'K-Maritime AI Belt' project to lead an AI-driven transformation of the maritime industry. [Busan Port Authority]
Busan Port Authority and the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency are launching the 'K-Maritime AI Belt' project to lead an AI-driven transformation of the maritime industry. [Busan Port Authority]

Kickoff meeting held for 'K-Maritime AI Belt' strategy project; BPA moves to establish Busan as a global maritime AI hub city

Busan Port Authority (BPA) announced Thursday that it is moving forward with a strategy to develop Busan into a global maritime artificial intelligence hub.

BPA and the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency held a kickoff meeting May 29 at Busan City Hotel for a research project to establish the "K-Maritime AI Belt" strategy. The K-Maritime AI Belt is a large-scale strategic project centered on Busan that aims to integrate AI across the maritime industry — spanning defense, ports, shipbuilding and culture — to strengthen South Korea's maritime competitiveness and build a national maritime AI hub.

The kickoff meeting drew senior officials and experts from major institutions including BPA, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Busan Metropolitan City, the National AI Strategy Committee, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), the Republic of Korea Navy, the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and the Busan Marine Equipment Association (BMEA). They held in-depth discussions on the future direction of Busan's maritime AI industry.

The research will focus on three areas: establishing a comprehensive plan for South Korea's maritime AI belt; identifying leading physical AI projects in four sectors — defense, ports, shipbuilding and culture; and designing a comprehensive ecosystem strategy for the maritime AI belt covering talent development, startup support and infrastructure.

The port sector component will be aligned with BPA's "Busan Port AI Transformation Plan," which the authority drew up in February. Through this project, BPA plans to pursue physical AI research planning and commercialization tailored to Busan Port; develop detailed plans, pilot programs and support measures in line with Busan Port's AI transformation strategy; and establish a project implementation framework and step-by-step procedures aligned with national AI transformation policy.

The two organizations intend to go beyond a conventional research project, linking their efforts to preparing for a national preliminary feasibility study, drafting project proposals to secure funding for large-scale national projects, building a maritime AI industry ecosystem, and developing specialized talent and industry-academia-research cooperation networks. Their goal is to position Busan as the central hub of South Korea's national maritime AI strategy.

BPA President Song Sang-geun said the authority would "work closely with the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency to successfully lay out a century-long blueprint for transforming Busan Port into an AI-based smart port." Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency President Kim Tae-yeol said the agency would "do everything in its power to lead South Korea's maritime AI innovation, drawing on Busan's world-class port, shipbuilding, logistics and defense infrastructure, and to help Busan rise to become the global capital of maritime artificial intelligence."


alsgp9737@heraldcorp.com