The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said on the 4th it plans to additionally designate opportunity development zones in Gangseo District of Busan and Dong and Buk districts of Ulsan on the 5th and to publish the designation.
Opportunity development zones are a system that packages tax and fiscal support, improvements to living conditions, and workforce training to attract large-scale corporate investment to the provinces.
With this measure, one new zone will be designated in Gangseo District, Busan, where a data center and a research and development (R&D) center are expected to be built. The designated area is 371,000 pyeong, and large-scale investment by related corporations is planned.
In Ulsan, two new zones (224,000 pyeong) will be designated in Dong and Buk districts to attract investment from corporations related to shipbuilding and auto parts. In addition, the designated area of three existing opportunity development zones will be expanded by 242,000 pyeong as additional corporate investments are finalized.
Opportunity development zones can be designated within the area caps by city and province (1.5 million pyeong for metropolitan cities, 2 million pyeong for provinces), but the cap can be exceeded if foreign investment is included. Ulsan includes foreign investment area in its existing opportunity development zones, so the total designated area will increase to 1,736,000 pyeong through this designation and change. It will be the first among 14 non-capital region cities and provinces to exceed the area cap.
The total number of opportunity development zones nationwide will be 55. Related to this, investments of about 33 trillion won are underway. To boost regional investment, the government will continue to expand incentives for opportunity development zones and, starting in 2026, newly promote a dedicated research and development (R&D) program (4.2 billion won) for corporations investing in the zones and a demand-tailored workforce training program for corporations (4.17 billion won).
A Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) official said, "About 20 corporations are planning new investments totaling around 8.6 trillion won in the Busan and Ulsan opportunity development zones designated or changed this time," and added, "The ministry will communicate closely with local governments and corporations to ensure the planned investments proceed on schedule."