'Optimal location for national power industry,' city says

Ulsan officials lobby government, National Assembly to make the case

Shin Min-sik, Ulsan's deputy mayor for economic affairs, speaks at a press conference at City Hall's press center Wednesday regarding the city's bid to host the unified headquarters of state-owned power companies. [Ulsan City]
Shin Min-sik, Ulsan's deputy mayor for economic affairs, speaks at a press conference at City Hall's press center Wednesday regarding the city's bid to host the unified headquarters of state-owned power companies. [Ulsan City]

Ulsan is mounting an all-out campaign to attract the headquarters of a planned unified state power company, as the government pushes to merge five Korea Electric Power Corporation subsidiaries into a single entity — tentatively named "Korea Power" — by Oct. 1 next year.

Shin Min-sik, Ulsan's deputy mayor for economic affairs, held a press conference at City Hall Wednesday, saying that hosting the Korea Power headquarters in Ulsan would be "a choice that transforms both the competitiveness of the national power industry and Ulsan's future industrial structure at the same time."

The five state-owned power companies are Korea Southern Power (Busan Nam-gu), Korea East-West Power (Ulsan Jung-gu), Korea South-East Power (Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province), Korea Midland Power (Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province) and Korea Western Power (Taean, South Chungcheong Province). They were spun off from Korea Electric Power Corporation in 2001 under the government's 1999 "Basic Plan for Power Industry Restructuring," and are now being pushed to reintegrate 25 years later to improve operational efficiency.

Ulsan envisions building a "complete energy cluster" by leveraging existing energy-related institutions already based in the city — including Korea National Oil Corporation, the Korea Energy Agency, the Korea Energy Economics Institute and Korea East-West Power — and adding the unified power headquarters alongside other energy-sector public institutions: the Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority, the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, and the Korea Energy Foundation.

The city also cites its industrial supply chain as a strength, with major power-consuming facilities concentrated there — including automakers, shipbuilders, petrochemical plants and AI data centers.

"Ulsan has the energy infrastructure and the capacity to serve as a hub for energy in Northeast Asia, which means it can be the launchpad for growing Korea Power into a world-class company," Shin said. "We will focus all our resources on winning this bid — both to strengthen national energy security and to transform Ulsan from a city built on oil and thermal power into one centered on carbon-free and renewable energy."

Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk plans to visit Korea East-West Power this month to discuss cooperation on the bid, and will also hold briefings with the government and the National Assembly.


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