3 newly designated free regulatory zones such as Gwangju, Ulsan and Gyeongnam

[한국방송/이광일기자] Three special zones in the field of the green and digital new deal have recently been designated and one project has been added to the designated special zone. As a result, a total of 24 Regulatory Free Zones are nationally designated and managed.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 13th that Korea Trade Insurance Corporation held the Free Zone Committee for Special Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the Special Zone Committee) chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-gyun.

Since last July, the Ministry of SMEs has examined the business feasibility, the need for special regulatory cases and the contribution to balanced regional development through expert meetings and sub-committees on 18 special zone projects (16 new, 2 additional projects) wanted by 11 local governments. Finally, he was designated by the Special Area Committee after the deliberation of the Deliberation Committee.

The fourth special zone is characterized by its designation focusing on the two core axes of the Korean New Deal, the green field and the digital field, and is expected to drive the regionally balanced New Deal as the growth of regional innovation through this designation.

The newly designated special zones are three special zones: Gwangju’Green Energy Energy Storage System (ESS) Power Generation ‘, Ulsan’Carbon Dioxide Resource Conversion’ and Gyeongnam’Next Generation Smart Factory using 5G (5G) ‘. It also added an “outdoor robot autonomous operation” demonstration project to the existing special area, Sejong (autonomous driving).

It was agreed with the relevant ministries to grant a total of 7 special cases for demonstration for this special area project. It is mainly composed of issues aimed at solving barriers to entry into new businesses, such as authorizing power generation and electricity transactions using energy storage devices (ESS) and marketing of products converted to carbon dioxide which are been suspended due to regulations.

Gyeongnam’s Special Zone Plan for “ Next Generation Smart Factory Using 5G (5G) ” complements the point that the bottom-up method has focused on specific fields such as biological health and cars of the future, and if the central government proposes it, the local government will materialize it. Interestingly, it was planned in relation to government policies, such as central smart factory procurement and enhancement policy, as a top-down task required in the year.

First, as a special Green New Deal zone, Gwangju will create a self-sustaining local energy ecosystem with the nation’s first solar power integration and direct energy transaction model and advance towards an energy self-sufficient city.

Recognizes the generation of energy through energy storage (ESS), which was not possible with the current system, and allows the relevant power generation business to deal directly with electricity suppliers (individual operators in the power generation sector). solar energy, etc.) and consumers (operators in the electric vehicle charging sector, etc.).

In other words, only individual companies can currently produce and supply electricity for solar energy, but those who have built an energy storage system (ESS) can also become power generation companies and trade directly with charging companies. electric.

The KEPCO-oriented power system structure is expected to be diversified by collecting energy produced from individual solar energy, storing it in a large-capacity energy storage system (ESS), and trading with electric vehicle charging companies.

In particular, it is planned to create a self-sufficient electricity ecosystem at the regional level by ensuring the technology to steadily regulate the supply based on the demand for electricity within the region.

Through this demonstration, the current carbon-centric power generation system using coal is expected to be converted into a regional renewable energy center and move closer to the carbon neutrality target in 2050.

Ulsan promotes a zero-emission society by recycling the carbon dioxide emitted by waste incineration plants as resources of economic value.

By allowing the recycling of the conversion of carbon dioxide (calcium carbonate), classified as waste by law and the marketing has been stopped, even after the completion of the technological development, the enterprises of special areas collect the carbon dioxide discharged from the incineration plants waste and purification plants to generate calcium carbonate. It can be marketed with building materials and chemical materials.

It has introduced an environmentally friendly method that uses steel slag as a raw material, i.e. industrial waste, in particular it is expected to be able to locate and replace most of the calcium carbonate materials, heavily dependent on Japanese imports.

With this demonstration, a new plant market for carbon capture facilities is expected to form and is expected to expand to industries that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide such as steel and chemicals, accelerating the transition. towards an ecological and low-carbon economy.

Notably, Ulsan is the number 1 city in Korea with carbon emissions regulations, with a large number of companies subject to carbon emissions regulations (67 companies including SK Energy), and is expected to reduce greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide) and will accelerate a zero-emission society using this demonstration.

As a special digital new deal type zone, Gyeongnam is driving the digitization of small and medium-sized manufacturing sites by building a next-generation smart factory using the fifth generation (5G) of the wireless band for the first time in the world. license.

To alleviate the cost of setting up communication facilities, the factory radio wave output standard was raised, and 5G (5G) communication technology with the features of super high speed, ultra low delay and ultra low delay was applied to the smart factory. – connectivity to improve productivity and quality improvement. to do.

The world’s first 5G (5G) related technology is applied to the unlicensed frequency band (6GHz) where there is no burden on communication costs (5G NR-U, Wi-Fi 6E), allowing SMBs to build a low cost 5G (5G) infrastructure. It is also expected to create new markets through the emergence of new small and medium-sized communications equipment and companies.

In the Changwon Industrial Complex in Gyeongnam, there are many auto parts companies that need to produce small quantities of various types through smart factories, which should revitalize the local economy, and the effect of spread to other sectors such as the shipbuilding and industrial complexes will be great.

Sejong has been reborn as a specialized autonomous driving city, like food delivery robots, crown prevention, and security patrols.

In the past, we have mainly demonstrated autonomous vehicle shuttle service, but this time we will diversify the autonomous driving industry by also demonstrating self-driving robot services in non-face-to-face fields such as delivery, security patrol and quarantine.

By allowing autonomous external robots to enter the park, the safety of external robots is verified in various environments and standards and certification systems are established, which should have the effect of locating related parties.

This demonstration is characterized by the provision of integrated services such as the establishment of an integrated control of the demonstration robots in the region and the development of a common charging / driving system, unlike the sandbox project of other ministries which focuses on individual pilot operations. The commercialization of autonomous driving is expected to be accelerated thanks to the synergistic effect.

By enabling the collection and use of image data for autonomous robots, it is expected to greatly contribute to the vitalization of related and applied industries, such as sharing and opening the results of the demonstration operation and related big data to startups and institutes small and medium sized search engines.

With this designation of a free regulatory zone (2020-2024), sales of 110 billion won, 648 new hires and 68 attractions and business start-ups are expected and, in the long term, until 2030, sales of 2 are expected. , 1 trillion won and new employment. It is expected to generate results of 2173 people, attracting companies and 234 startups.

Since the inauguration of the Free Regulatory Zone, the results are clear, including an increase of approximately 16% (+662) jobs, an investment attraction of KRW 3,169 billion, a venture capital investment (VC ) of KRW 55.2 billion and the attraction of 109 companies. The results of this special zone are awaited even more.

The Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises is planning to provide budget support such as empirical research and development (R&D), infrastructure and marketing support so that further projects in the three newly designated special zones and an existing special zone can proceed smoothly.

In order to promote investment in innovative companies in the special zone, a “regulated free zone fund” manager was recently selected. By the end of this year, a fund of approximately 35 billion won will be created to accelerate the creation of regional innovation results. In the future, we plan to increase the exclusive investment ratio based on the investment demand of companies in the special zone.

The plans to ensure the stability of the project, such as the preparation of accident prevention countermeasures and manuals of emergency measures for fire safety, and compliance with the principle of image information processing for the protection of personal information, have been included and clarified in the special area plan.

In the future, the ‘Safety Inspection Committee’ will be formed, in which experts in each designated special area will participate, to ensure the safety of each project and, in collaboration with local governments and local administrations, the progress of each task and the implementation of safety measures will be checked frequently.

Mid-term minister Park Young-sun said in a briefing that “for the completion of the Korean version of the New Deal, the role of the Free Regulatory Zone, a catalyst for regional innovation, is crucial”. “The new free digital and green regulatory zones create new industries and new services. It will become an advanced base of the country and open the era of a regionally balanced New Deal.”

Surveys: Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Special Regulatory Free Zone Planning Team 044-865-9713