The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) officially launched the “Startup City Project,” an ambitious initiative designed to decentralize South Korea's startup ecosystem, which has long been concentrated around the Seoul metropolitan area. In collaboration with four major metropolitan governments--Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Ulsan--alongside the nation's four premier science and technology institutes, the government aims to foster at least five regional cities into the global top 100 startup ecosystems by 2030.
On May 21, Minister Han Seong-sook joined local government leaders and representatives from KAIST, DGIST, GIST, and UNIST at the DGIST Convention Hall in Daegu to unveil the project's strategic roadmap. This follow-up event to April's “National Startup Era Strategy Meeting” was held to establish a collaborative model between central and local authorities while tailoring growth strategies to each region's specific strengths.
The project provides a comprehensive “growth package” that includes talent cultivation, commercialization support, investment, and infrastructure. At its core, the initiative seeks to establish an integrated governance model where universities, research institutes, corporations, and investors collaborate under the leadership of the four STIs. The goal is to create a virtuous cycle--from nurturing technical talent to supporting the founding, scaling, and eventual regional settlement of deep-tech startups.
During the presentation, each city revealed its specialized focus:
· Daegu aims to lead the “AI Transformation (AX)” in advanced manufacturing, focusing on robotics, mobility, and bio-health.
· Daejeon will leverage the research power of KAIST and government-funded labs to cultivate “deep-tech unicorns” in aerospace, defense, and robotics.
· Gwangju plans to build a regional hub centered on GIST, focusing on future mobility, energy, and semiconductors, while integrating the energy infrastructure of nearby Naju.
· Ulsan will utilize UNIST and its heavy industrial complexes to create a “global testbed” city, linking startups with the automotive, shipbuilding, and petrochemical sectors for real-world technology validation.
Following the strategy session, the MSS and the four local governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The parties agreed to collaborate on discovering technical talent, facilitating the inflow of startups to regional hubs, supporting R&D and investment, and improving local living conditions to ensure long-term retention.
“It is vital to move beyond a Seoul-centric structure and create a self-sustaining cycle where technology startups thrive and settle in our regions,” said Minister Han Seong-sook. “Through this project, we will build a resilient startup ecosystem where entrepreneurs can succeed anywhere in the Republic of Korea.”
