▲ Prime Minister Kim Min-seok speaks during a meeting on the Saemangeum development project in the southern city of Jeonju on May 19, 2026. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) PM-Saemangeum

(LEAD) PM calls for proactive support for Hyundai Motor's Saemangeum project

(ATTN: UPDATES with details of support measures in last 2 paras)

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Min-seok instructed the government Tuesday to preemptively remove any administrative obstacles for the success of Hyundai Motor Group's massive investment project to turn the Saemangeum reclaimed land in southwestern South Korea into a hub for artificial intelligence, robotics and hydrogen industries.

The 9 trillion-won (US$6.26 billion) project, announced in February, calls for utilizing 1.12 million square meters of land in the Saemangeum area to build an AI data center, a robotics manufacturing and components cluster, a water electrolysis plant and solar power facilities, among others.

The investment is expected to create around 70,000 jobs and generate an estimated 16 trillion won in economic impact.

"Without a need to speak long, this project must succeed no matter what," Kim said during a meeting on the project at the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency in Jeonju, some 192 kilometers south of Seoul. "Beyond a corporate investment, this project is a model case that creates hope, new growth and jobs in a provincial region and takes the lead in balanced national development."

The government has come up with a comprehensive package of support measures, including land provision, tax cuts, infrastructure construction and regulatory benefits, and the Saemangeum region will be reborn as a strategic foothold for leaping toward a new future, Kim said.

"What is important in the course of a company making an investment decision and carrying it out is predictability and speed," Kim said. "Each ministry should push for the revision of related laws and regulations and take follow-up measures in a speedy manner and resolve difficulties in a preemptive manner so that the company can feel its effect on the ground."

The government's support package also includes financial assistance, such as special low-interest loans from the "People's Growth Fund," a government-proposed fund aimed at revitalizing future-leading industries, including artificial intelligence, defense and biotech.

The government also seeks to help attract investment from overseas sovereign wealth funds, with plans to ask the United Arab Emirates to consider investing in the project after conducting an investment eligibility assessment through the Korea Development Bank.

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