Chuncheon, the Chuncheon Biotech Industry Promotion Agency and the Gangwon Information and Culture Industry Promotion Agency held the "AI Era: Chuncheon Future Industries Forum" at the Chuncheon ICT Venture Center on Friday, declaring AI, data and biotech the city's three pillars of future industry.
The city outlined plans to leverage its existing data infrastructure as a foundation for industrial development and to link the Soyang River's thermal energy and the region's power grid to the AI data industry.
In addition, the city said it would integrate AI into its accumulated biotech capabilities to expand into new sectors such as digital healthcare.
The city also presented a strategy to build an industrial ecosystem where businesses, research institutions, universities and talent can grow together by connecting six key development hubs: a corporate innovation park, a thermal energy cluster, a transit-oriented development zone, an urban regeneration innovation district, the Geodu general industrial complex and a campus innovation park.
Presentations at the forum covered plans for building a future AI city using data centers and physical AI, digital healthcare in the era of generative AI, and the direction for nurturing a fabless semiconductor industry in Chuncheon.
On the future AI city front, speakers proposed that Chuncheon should align with the government's policy direction on AI data centers, physical AI and corporate advanced cities. They argued the city should stake out a position as a model connecting data, talent and services rather than competing on sheer infrastructure volume.
With Donghae and Gangneung expected to take on the role of building large-scale data centers, speakers argued Chuncheon should differentiate itself as a talent and data hub focused on data center operations and utilization, AI demonstration, workforce development and the supply of physical AI training data.
In the digital healthcare segment, presenters noted that generative AI is emerging as a core technology for improving the efficiency and accessibility of medical services — from patient interaction and medical document drafting to medical record summarization, remote monitoring and clinical research support.
Speakers also shared the outlook that combining Chuncheon's medical and biotech foundation with its data infrastructure could significantly enhance the prospects for demonstrating and commercializing digital healthcare services in the region.
In the fabless semiconductor segment, presenters stressed a Chuncheon-style semiconductor strategy centered on design, testing and talent development rather than attracting large-scale production factories. They called for gradually expanding the local semiconductor industry ecosystem by building design capabilities in AI semiconductors and medical and biotech semiconductors — drawing on Kangwon National University's semiconductor joint research institute and its specialized university program — and by fostering university-based startups and attracting companies to the region.
Chuncheon Mayor Yuk Dong-han said the city already has a strong foundation in data infrastructure and the biotech industry. "We will now connect AI and biotech, data and energy, and research and talent into a single industrial ecosystem to make Chuncheon a new hub for South Korea's future industries," he said.
"Future industries must not remain a slogan — they must translate into real investment, jobs and young people putting down roots here," he added. "We will prove Chuncheon's future through achievable goals and verifiable results."
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