The photo shows stacks of containers at Busan’s Sinseondae Terminal on December 1. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Tuesday it will invest at least 4.5 trillion won (US$3.06 billion) to secure overseas logistics hubs as part of an effort to shore up exporters’ supply chains and reduce reliance on foreign-owned facilities.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries laid out the plan during a ministerial meeting on industrial competitiveness, warning that Korean firms remain heavily dependent on logistics assets owned or controlled by foreign companies. Only 8.8% of overseas logistics centers used by 15 major Korean logistics operators are domestically owned, officials said. Korean companies also hold equity stakes in just seven overseas container terminals.
To strengthen logistics resilience, the government aims to expand the number of state-supported overseas logistics bases to 40 by 2030, up from nine today. The planned network will cover 11 countries with significant trade volume with Korea, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, Indonesia and Germany.
The government also plans to work with domestic shipping lines and maritime authorities to secure stakes in additional container terminals and bulk terminals handling critical commodities such as energy and grains. In addition, Seoul will double a government-backed supply-chain investment fund to 2 trillion won.
Separately, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said it would establish a 150 billion-won fund to support Phase 3 clinical trials for Korean biopharmaceutical companies and nurture 110,000 workers in the biohealth sector by 2027. The government will also expand support for AI-based cultural content development through a 430 billion-won fund.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
