Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority

Holds 2026 Meeting with Companies in Ulsan Free Economic Zone

On the 23rd, Mayor Kim Sang-wook Participates to Personally Address On-Site Difficulties

Expected to Gain Momentum in Preparing Customized Support Measures Reflecting Voices from the Field

The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority announced that it will hold the “2026 Meeting with Resident Companies in Ulsan Free Economic Zone” on July 23 at 2 p.m. in the conference room on the 2nd floor of the 3D Printing Venture Integrated Knowledge Industry Center in the Techno Industrial Complex.

This meeting is the first official communication between Mayor Kim Sang-wook and companies in the Free Economic Zone since the launch of the 9th popularly elected local government, and was planned to listen directly to difficulties at corporate sites and prepare practical support measures.

About 40 people will attend the meeting, including resident companies in the Techno Industrial Complex, the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), and the 3D Printing Venture Integrated Knowledge Industry Center; and officials from the Innovation Support Organizations Council, including the Korea Marine Equipment Research Institute (KOMERI), the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), Korea Testing & Research Institute (KTR), and Ulsan Technopark.

Officials from the environment, road, and transportation departments of Nam-gu and Ulju-gun will also attend to listen to corporate suggestions.

The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority has held meetings targeting around 200 resident companies in the Ulsan Free Economic Zone once or twice every year to introduce corporate support policies and listen to difficulties. Furthermore, it is expanding visit-consultations for resident companies by operating the “On-Site Corporate Support Mobile Office.”

In particular, as Mayor Kim Sang-wook personally attends this meeting, field-customized administrative support reflecting the voices from the field is expected to gain further momentum.

Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook said, “We will take the voices of citizens and companies as the starting point of municipal administration, directly hearing concerns and needs on the ground and prepare solutions,” adding, “We will swiftly take action on matters that can be improved immediately and reflect tasks requiring institutional improvement in mid- to long-term policies to provide administrative services that make a tangible difference for companies.”

Meanwhile, the Ulsan Free Economic Zone has continued its steady growth since being designated as a Free Economic Zone in June 2020. In August last year, as the KTX Ulsan Station Complex Specialized District was newly designated, the total area expanded from the previous 4,755,000 m2 to 6,287,460 m2.

In addition, since its opening, the number of resident companies has increased by 111, the number of employees has grown by 2,057, and investment has increased by KRW 1.4745 trillion. Based on these achievements, it received Grade A for two consecutive years in the Free Economic Zone Performance Evaluation by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority plans to push for investment attraction worth about KRW 400 billion, centered on the newly supplied land of the KTX Ulsan Station Complex Specialized District (1,532,460 m2) and High-Tech Valley (HTV) Phase 2 (666,901 m2), as well as follow-up measures through regular communication with companies. End.

Ulsan Selects Winning Entries for Regulatory Innovation Idea Contest

Grand Prize is awarded to “Proposal to Amend Telecom Contract Protection Act for Basic Livelihood Recipients with Developmental Disabilities”

Ulsan Metropolitan City announced that it selected a total of 9 winning entries as a result of the “Regulatory Innovation Idea Contest” conducted to relieve inconveniences for citizens and companies.

Ulsan City held a nationwide contest from April 6 to May 22 and received a total of 228 novel proposals.

Afterwards, through the primary appropriateness review (classification of non-regulatory/simple suggestions) and strict deliberation by the 2nd evaluation committee, which consisted of Regulatory Reform Committee members and experts from related organizations, a final 9 entries were selected: 1 Grand Prize, 2 Excellence Prizes, and 6 Encouragement Prizes.

For the Grand Prize, “Proposal to Amend Laws for Preventing Telecommunications Contract Damage to Basic Livelihood Recipients with Developmental Disabilities” was selected.

This proposal contains content to amend laws to make it mandatory to connect explanation support from specialized institutions and establish a system notification network when signing a contract in order to prevent unreasonable damage caused by basic livelihood recipients with developmental disabilities not fully understanding mobile phone contract contents.

Next, 2 entries were selected for the Excellence Prize.

Proposals named were “Establishing a Legal Basis for Local Governments with Jurisdiction over the Place of Death to Handle All Procedures for Unclaimed Deceased Persons (basic livelihood recipients)—from Receiving the Body to Enshrinement—as a Single, Unified Process” and “Establishing a Rapid Administrative System Where Related Departments Jointly and Proactively Review and Confirm both the Feasibility of Installing Solar Panels on Factory Roofs in Industrial Complexes and Complex Licensing Processes.”

In addition, 6 items closely related to daily life, such as “Improving Start-of-Work Notification Procedures for Apartment Complex Remodeling,” won Encouragement Prizes.

For the selected excellent ideas related to local regulations, Ulsan plans to closely consult with departments in charge to promote prompt improvements, and for tasks requiring legal amendments, it will suggest them to central government ministries.

The award ceremony will be held on July 23 at 3:30 p.m. in the Administrative Vice Mayor Office on the 7th floor of the City Hall’s main building, and Ulsan Metropolitan City Mayor Awards and prize money will be awarded to the winners.

A city official said, “We will contribute to improving citizens’ quality of life by continuously promoting effective regulatory improvements that citizens and companies can directly feel in their daily lives and on-site.”

Meanwhile, Ulsan is steadily continuing regulatory reform achievements, such as promoting the amendment of 2 local regulations out of the 9 selected entries in last year’s regulatory innovation contest and suggesting institutional improvements for the remaining 7 entries to central government ministries. End.

Ulsan

Inspection of Qualitative Indicators in Government Joint Evaluation… All-Out Effort to Discover Best Practices

Holds “Progress Report Meeting on Qualitative Indicators for Government Joint Evaluation” on the 23rd

Conducts Review of Best Practices for Qualitative Indicators and Discussion of Improvements

Ulsan Metropolitan City announced that it will hold the “Progress Report Meeting on Qualitative Indicators for the 2027 Government Joint Evaluation (2026 Performance)” on July 23 at 2 p.m. in the Situation Room on the 7th floor of the City Hall’s main building.

The report meeting will be presided over by Administrative Vice Mayor Seo Nam-gyo, with about 30 participants including heads of departments in charge of 14 qualitative indicators, to review draft best practice plans for each indicator and discuss supplementary items.

Following a workshop held in April for indicator officials of the city, districts, and counties, Ulsan has worked to discover differentiated best practices reflecting regional characteristics by conducting expert consulting.

Through this report meeting, the city plans to enhance the completeness of qualitative indicator best practices and systematically respond to the government joint evaluation by the end of the year.

In particular, as Ulsan won 1st place among special and metropolitan cities in the quantitative evaluation section of the 2026 Local Government Joint Evaluation conducted last year, it plans to continue its good performance this year as well.

Administrative Vice Mayor Seo Nam-gyo said, “As we achieved the top performance among special and metropolitan cities in last year’s quantitative evaluation, we will do our best to systematically manage qualitative indicators this year as well to receive an excellent evaluation.”

Meanwhile, the Government Joint Evaluation is a system in which the Minister of the Interior and Safety and the heads of central administrative agencies jointly evaluate the overall performance of state-delegated tasks, state-subsidized projects, and major national policies across 16 cities and provinces nationwide in accordance with the “Framework Act on Public Service Evaluation.”

The 2027 Government Joint Evaluation (2026 performance) will be conducted on a total of 106 indicators, including 92 quantitative indicators and 14 qualitative indicators. End.

Ulsan

Conducts Inspection of Summer Water Play Facilities Management Status

On-Site Inspection of Water Quality and Compliance with Management Standards at 84 Locations through September

Ulsan Metropolitan City announced that it will conduct an inspection of the “Summer Water Play Facilities Management Status” from this month through September to create safe water play spaces and protect citizens’ health.

“Water play facilities” refer to artificial structures created with fountains, ponds, waterfalls, small streams, etc., that artificially store and circulate tap water or groundwater, among which water play facilities open to the public that come into direct contact with the user’s body are included.

Inspection targets are a total of 84 locations, including 43 public facilities and 41 private facilities in the jurisdiction. Among these, some facilities are scheduled to be inspected jointly with the Nakdong River Basin Environment Office.

Inspection contents include installation and operation reporting, compliance with water quality standards (conducting water quality tests at least once every 15 days during the operation period, etc.), compliance with management standards (maintaining water depth below 30 cm, cleaning storage tanks, etc.) for water play facilities, and water quality tests will also be conducted using water samples collected from operating facilities.

As a result of the inspection, Ulsan plans to immediately suspend operation of facilities that fall short of water quality standards and take corrective measures, and take administrative measures, including imposing fines, when violations such as unreported facilities or management standard breaches occur.

A city official said, “We will do our best to create a safe water play environment for users through the inspection of the management status of summer water play facilities.” End.