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South Korea Plans 10 Startup Hub Cities by 2027 to Boost Economy

South Korea will designate 10 cities as major startup hubs by 2027 to promote balanced regional growth and create jobs for young people. Four cities housing major science institutes—Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Ulsan—will be named this year, with six more to follow in 2025. The government aims to have five South Korean cities in the global top 100 startup list by 2030 through specialized industry development and comprehensive support. Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol emphasized leveraging the semiconductor boom to strengthen the economy through industrial innovation and startup promotion.

Key Points: S. Korea to Designate 10 Startup Hub Cities by 2027

  • Four cities will be named startup hubs this year
  • Six more cities outside Seoul area to be added next year
  • Goal to foster five cities in top 100 global startup list by 2030
  • Initiative aims to promote balanced regional growth and create youth jobs
3 min read

S. Korea to designate 10 cities to serve as startup hubs by 2027

South Korea will designate 10 cities as startup hubs by 2027 to promote balanced growth and create jobs, starting with Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Ulsan.

"Building on the golden window of opportunity created by the semiconductor boom, the government will work to strengthen the foundations for our economy to reemerge as a global leader by advancing proactive industrial innovation and promoting startups. - Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol"

Seoul, April 24

The government will designate 10 cities to serve as major hubs for startup ecosystems by next year in a bid to promote balanced regional growth and create more jobs for young people, the finance ministry here said on Friday.

It will first designate four cities that house the country's major science institutes -- Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju and UIsan -- as startup hubs this year, and name six more cities outside of the greater Seoul area with such potential next year, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy. The initiative was announced at a meeting on the economy and strategy on boosting startup ecosystem.

The ministry said the initiative aims to help promote balanced regional growth as the country's startup infrastructure is mainly focused in Seoul, while other regions are suffering an outflow of population due to the lack of industrial infrastructure, reports Yonhap news agency.

South Korea ranks No. 20 across the world in terms of startup ecosystem competitiveness, with massive investment in research and development (R&D) projects and active patent applications, but only has three cities listed in top 500 startup cities, the ministry said, citing data from global startup ecosystem research platform StartupBlink.

The United States has 137 cities making the list, while Britain, Germany, China and Japan have 34, 27, 26 and six cities on the list, respectively.

Through the initiative, the government aims to foster five cities that can make the top 100 global startup list by 2030, the ministry said.

To this end, the government plans to help the cities serve as education hubs for young entrepreneurs and develop their own specialised area of industry, for example Daegu as a hub for robotics startups, Gwangju for artificial intelligence (AI) and smart energy, and Ulsan for future mobility.

It will also devise a comprehensive support package for the creation and growth of startups in the areas, comprising R&D, investment and networking support, as well as streamlining of regulations, the ministry explained.

The ministry said it will also help rural regions develop businesses utilising their regional resources in culture and tourism to stimulate the local economy, while providing benefits to companies outside of the Seoul metropolitan area when they make bids for public procurement projects.

"Building on the golden window of opportunity created by the semiconductor boom, the government will work to strengthen the foundations for our economy to reemerge as a global leader by advancing proactive industrial innovation and promoting startups," Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

A
Ananya R
The fact that Korea is explicitly targeting cities outside Seoul for balanced growth is exactly what India needs. Our government keeps talking about 'Vibrant Gujarat' and 'Make in India' but where's the concrete plan like this? 10 cities with specific timelines, R&D support, and regulatory streamlining - that's the kind of detailed execution we lack.
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James A
Interesting comparison - USA has 137 cities in top 500 startup list, India probably has just 4-5. Korea is at least trying to decentralize. The whole point is that startups can thrive anywhere if infrastructure is right. India should be looking at cities like Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, and Chandigarh as potential hubs rather than just the usual suspects.
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Priya S
One thing I appreciate is they're connecting startup hubs with science institutes - like Daejeon with KAIST (their top tech university). In India, we have IITs and NITs but how many cities have effectively used them as anchors for startup ecosystems? Only IIT Madras in Chennai has done something notable. The rest is still 'let's build a tech park' without linking to academia.
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Rohit P
The 'golden window of opportunity from semiconductor boom' comment is key. Korea is using their existing industrial strengths (like Ulsan for future mobility, Daegu for robotics). India's semiconductor push is good, but we also need to identify what each city is naturally good at - for example, Pune for auto tech, Ahmedabad for textile-tech, and build around that. Just copy-pasting doesn't work.
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Kavya N

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