Saemangeum Moves Up Reclamation Timeline by 15 Years as Hyundai Plans 9 Trillion Won Investment

Public money at Saemangeum buys land and access. The agency's budget proposal for next year is 222.2 billion won ^[16], about 2.5% of the 9 trillion won Hyundai Motor Group has committed ^[3][1]. The new line for the robot cluster is 500 million won ^[18], roughly one part in 18,000 of that private figure ^[2]. The largest new item is 17.5 billion won to prepare long-term lease land of about 231,000 square meters ^[17], or about 75,800 won per square meter ^[3]. That site is about 0.6% of the 37.5 square kilometers of industrial land the revised plan now provides for ^[15][9].

Another 400 million won starts a demand-responsive transport service ^[19]. "Of all the living conditions for workers at tenant companies and for local residents, transportation is the worst," said Jang Chang-seok, the agency's planning and finance officer. "It was hard to get started, but expanding transportation services is the easier part." ^[20]

The robot plant is the part that has to find customers. It is designed to mass-produce more than 20,000 units a year, wearable, logistics and delivery robots, and it would be Hyundai's first robot manufacturing facility in Korea ^[9]. Kim Jin-hu, who heads the agency's robotics and hydrogen promotion team, was direct about supply. "Hyundai Motor is a finished-vehicle maker, so it already has a well-developed parts supply chain," Kim said. "It can lead the robotics industry in a similar form." ^[10] On what happens to the output he was more careful. "How the robots that are produced will be used is something not only our agency but also the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is thinking hard about," Kim said ^[12].

The agency justifies the public spending with a multiplier. It expects about 16 trillion won in production effects and some 70,000 direct and indirect jobs ^[21]. On 9 trillion won of investment that is about 1.8 won of output per won put in ^[4] and about 129 million won of capital per job ^[5]. Both are the agency's projections, and both rest on the same 9 trillion won.

The commissioner makes the counter-case. "Since we signed the agreement with Hyundai Motor Group, the mood in Saemangeum has turned energetic. More companies in advanced industries such as artificial intelligence are now considering investing here," said Moon Sung-yo, commissioner of the Saemangeum Development Agency, at a briefing on the 10th ^[22][23]. Moon said officials from China's Ministry of Commerce visited and that executives in secondary batteries and logistics are coming ^[25], and also said, "I cannot discuss specifics until agreements are actually signed." ^[24]

So the schedule now runs ahead of the tenant list. Of the 240.5 square kilometers originally slated for reclamation by 2050, 169.6 are to be filled by 2035 ^[14]. That is about 70% of the area, 15 years early ^[6]. Industrial land goes to 37.5 square kilometers from 12.1, a factor of 3.1 ^[15][7]. District 8 is still being filled and has no designated tenants ^[2]. I would expect the March groundbreaking to hold, since District 7's reclamation is finished ^[1]. The 20,000-unit output plan is the figure I would expect to move, because Kim put the deployment question with the ministry and the agency ^[12][13].