Ombudsman for Small and Medium Enterprises Choi Seung-jae said on the 15th that he held an "S.O.S. Talk" roundtable at the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) North Chungcheong Regional Office in Cheongju, North Chungcheong.
S.O.S. Talk is an event jointly run by the ombudsman and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) since 2015 to resolve on-site regulatory difficulties facing small and medium-sized enterprises. At the roundtable, more than 20 people attended, including Ombudsman Choi; representatives of small and medium-sized venture corporations in North Chungcheong; Hwang In-tak, head of the KOSME North Chungcheong Regional Office; and Kim Myeong-jin, head of the Northern North Chungcheong Branch.
At the roundtable, a corporations that produces automobile parts, battery packs, and Hydrogen Fuel Cell parts proposed the need to establish new standards related to solid oxide water electrolysis equipment. Solid oxide water electrolysis equipment is next-generation hydrogen production equipment that uses high heat to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The corporations said that most facility, technology, and inspection standards related to electrolysis equipment are currently centered on low-temperature systems under 100 degrees, making it difficult to commercialize solid oxide water electrolysis equipment, which operates in a high-temperature environment of 700–900 degrees.
North Chungcheong enacted the nation's first local government ordinance to foster the hydrogen industry in 2018 and is nurturing the hydrogen industry by being designated a regulatory free zone for the green hydrogen industry.
The responsible ministry, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, said, "Because relevant safety standards have not yet been established, we are operating under a regulatory sandbox demonstration exemption and securing demonstration data." It plans to promote institutionalization of detailed related standards next year, reflecting the results of the demonstrations.
Attending corporations also proposed: ▲ simplifying administrative procedures for minor changes to food packaging materials ▲ improving the safety management system for textile products to respond to small-lot, multi-item production ▲ expanding support for overseas exports by intellectual property (IP)-based content corporations.