Labor-management-civic committee launched Tuesday
City targets energy, finance and AI transformation sectors
'Strategic hub for national industrial transition' envisioned
Ulsan launched the "Committee for Attracting Public Institutions in the Second Relocation Round" on Tuesday at the main conference room of City Hall, pledging to mobilize every resource the city has to bring public institutions to the region.
Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk and City Council Speaker Lee Young-hae attended the launch ceremony alongside more than 20 representatives from labor, business, academia and civil society. The committee will serve as a coordinating body, building citywide public consensus in support of attracting institutions in the second relocation round and supporting outreach efforts targeting the central government and political circles.
Ulsan has framed the second relocation round as a strategic repositioning that combines the strengths of the region's industries with the expertise of public institutions to boost national industrial competitiveness.
Building on its core industries of automobiles, shipbuilding and petrochemicals, Ulsan is pursuing a shift toward advanced industries through large-scale national megaprojects now underway — an AI data center, a key production line for all-solid-state batteries, an ESS facility and a future mobility production base. The city also sees itself as a vast testbed for demonstrating new energy technologies.
Ulsan plans to argue that combining the production and investment base of world-class manufacturers with the policy, research and development, technology support and financial functions of public institutions would allow it to generate results from the relocation faster than any other city — and spread those results nationwide.
As the optimal site for demonstrating the convergence of energy, AI and manufacturing, the city will also focus on attracting public institutions in the energy and power generation, finance, and industrial AI transformation sectors.
As the country's largest industrial power consumer with a proven base for producing and demonstrating diverse energy sources — including nuclear power, hydrogen and offshore wind — Ulsan said it plans to attract the integrated headquarters of state-owned power companies and develop the city into a national energy policy demonstration hub linking energy production with industrial demand.
The city also plans to attract the headquarters of the Industrial Bank of Korea, positioning Ulsan as an industrial finance city capable of supporting the small and medium-sized enterprises expected to draw new investment on the back of physical AI infrastructure and AI data centers.
cityblue@heraldcorp.com
