Samcheok in Gangwon Province announced Friday that it is developing a hydrogen-specialized general industrial complex while simultaneously recruiting businesses to the site.
The complex, covering approximately 140,000 square meters in Dongmak-ri, Geundeok-myeon, is designed to concentrate and nurture the hydrogen industry as a future growth engine for the region. Total project costs are estimated at 23.3 billion won ($16.5 million).
Once the complex is complete, the city plans to attract hydrogen-focused companies to build an integrated hydrogen industry cluster.
Parallel efforts to recruit businesses ahead of completion are already bearing fruit. Six hydrogen-related companies — Diges Co., D.L Co., JI Engineering Co., Lightbridge Co., Sleno Co. and Parotech Co. — have moved into a rental factory building completed in the first half of 2026 and are preparing to begin operations.
Samcheok intends the complex to be more than a space for companies to set up shop, positioning it as an industrial hub that integrates hydrogen research and development with business support services.
To that end, the city plans to link the complex with a public rental knowledge industry center, a carbon capture, utilization and storage promotion center, and a hydrogen engine test-bed project. It will also draw on various support programs — including an opportunity development zone and a corporate investment promotion district — to encourage investment and help companies establish stable operations.
The 96,000-square-meter industrial facility zone within the complex falls under the hydrogen opportunity development zone designation, entitling businesses to additional property tax reductions for five years. The entire city of Samcheok was also officially designated a corporate investment promotion district in January 2026, putting in place a support framework that includes equipment subsidies and electricity cost assistance.
Samcheok completed the necessary administrative procedures, including the official announcement of the hydrogen-specialized industrial complex plan, and broke ground on construction in March 2025.
The city aims to complete construction of the Samcheok Dongmak industrial complex by 2028 and plans to begin pre-sales in 2027, pushing ahead with the project at a brisk pace.
The Dongmak name gained wider recognition through the 2005 film "Welcome to Dongmakgol," set against the backdrop of a remote Gangwon mountain village. While the name is a proper noun for this location, "dongmak" is also a common Korean place-name element meaning the far edge of a village, and appears in towns across the country. The film was not shot in Samcheok's Dongmak-ri — the actual filming locations were Mitan and Daegwallyeong-myeon in Pyeongchang.
The related place name "tanmak," meaning the end of a waterway, is similarly widespread along rivers and coastlines. About 20 kilometers north of Samcheok's Dongmak-ri, just past the boundary between Samcheok and Donghae, lies a village called Tanmak.
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