Donghae Mayor Lee Jeong-hak and residents of the Gangwon Province city are welcoming a string of investment plans from major conglomerates including GS Group and KGM, expressing optimism about a new phase of regional economic growth.
Lee said in a recent social media post that the prospect of KGM C&E — which has grown alongside Donghae since 1968 — relocating its Seoul headquarters to the city was "welcome news." He added that if the move goes ahead, it would drive population growth, boost local consumption and tax revenues, and generate positive spillover effects for attracting related businesses and investment.
Industry and local government sources said Monday that KGM C&E, formerly known as Ssangyong Cement, has been weighing a move of its headquarters to Donghae — home to the company's largest and most important domestic factory — for more than a decade.
KGM C&E has yet to issue an official statement on reports that a headquarters relocation is imminent, but officials responsible for the matter have reiterated their longstanding position that a move to Donghae is being actively considered as part of a shift toward field-centered management. The Donghae factory has served as the company's core domestic production base throughout its 60-year history.
Separately, GS Group signed an agreement last month with Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province and Donghae to support the successful development of an AI data center at the city's second Bukpyeong general industrial complex.
Gangwon Governor Woo Sang-ho said the project was moving quickly and that ground-breaking was on track for November. "Filling land in an industrial complex that had been sitting empty is already a gain in itself," Woo said. "Once 300 to 2,000 people are based there, regional economic benefits will follow naturally, and if related industries move in one after another, further downstream economic results will emerge — so we are focused on securing permits and approvals for the data center, which is the first step toward benefiting the local economy."
Mayor Lee said timing was critical when it came to opportunity. "We will lay the groundwork for companies to grow even larger in Donghae and accelerate efforts to attract new businesses and future industries," he said. "We will do our utmost to build Donghae into an economic city where businesses thrive and the local economy comes alive."
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