Gyeongsangbuk-do held a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Korea Food Research Institute Gyeongbuk Headquarters (hereinafter referred to as KFRI Gyeongbuk Headquarters) in Seonsan-eup, Gumi-si on Wednesday, September 16, initiating full-scale steps to foster Gyeongbuk's food industry into a future growth industry.

The event was attended by some 200 people, including Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheol-woo, National Assemblyman Kang Myung-gu, Gumi Mayor Kim Jang-ho, provincial and city council members, as well as officials from the National Research Council of Science & Technology and the Korea Food Research Institute.

The KFRI Gyeongbuk Headquarters will be built with a total project cost of 27.1 billion KRW at 1376 Gyori, Seonsan-eup, Gumi-si. Spanning a site area of 6,596㎡ with a total floor area of 4,944㎡, it will consist of three buildings—office and research facilities, pilot manufacturing facilities, and welfare facilities—with a scheduled opening in April 2028.

Upon opening, it will pursue high-value commercialization of local agricultural and food products, research on new materials such as marine biotechnology, and the development of smart food manufacturing and distribution technologies converging IT, robotics, and machinery industries.

It plans to establish itself as a core R&D and technology demonstration hub for the industrialization of the future K-food industry by providing technical support and nurturing human resources for local agricultural groups and food companies.

Gyeongsangbuk-do established the "Food Hallyu Industry Bureau," the nation's first dedicated food organization, building a control tower for the future industrialization of K-food. Recently, at the Central-Local Cooperation Meeting, it requested President Lee Jae-myung to designate GyeongbUk as a "K-Food National Test Bed" and establish the food industry as a strategic industry, planning to transform all cities and counties into experimental grounds for the food industry based on three major food tech hubs.

Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheol-woo emphasized, "The global food market size is about 10 trillion dollars (more than 10 quadrillion KRW), which is over five times South Korea's GDP and a future industry even larger than the semiconductor market. We must not view the food industry, which will never disappear as long as humans live, merely as a subsidiary industry of agriculture. Now, when the world is enthusiastic about K-food, we must seize this opportunity to properly supply Korean ingredients and high-value-added foods."

He added, "I hope today's ground-breaking ceremony will serve as a starting point opening a new era for Gyeongbuk's food industry, and we will provide generous support so that it becomes a reliable partner leading the globalization of K-food."

[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]