First Metropolitan-linked Regulatory Free Zones Designated: Smart Agriculture and New Marine Leisure Confirmed

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on August 5 that it had convened the 26th Deliberation Committee on Regulatory Free Zones to review the agenda of designating new metropolitan-linked regulatory free zones and innovative measures for regulatory free zones.

Noh Yongseok, Acting Minister and First Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is delivering a greeting at the '2026 Regulatory Free Zone Deliberation Committee' held at SVC Seoul in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 5th. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

The newly discussed metropolitan-linked regulatory free zones, introduced for the first time at this deliberation committee, are a key government initiative for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. This approach, launched this year, moves beyond the conventional model centered on individual regions or single technologies by promoting collaborative efforts between two or more local governments to comprehensively test regulations related to each other.

After consulting with relevant ministries and conducting a thorough review with experts, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected a total of two projects as candidates for designation as metropolitan-linked free zones and submitted them as agenda items at this committee meeting.

The “Smart Agriculture Metropolitan-linked Free Zone” will involve Jeonnam and Gwangju as the core regions, with Jeonbuk and Chungnam participating as well. The project will test the charging of electric agricultural machinery using solar DC power and the development of autonomous agricultural machinery. After independently verifying region-specific technologies, Jeonnam and Gwangju will integrate their findings for joint demonstration.

The “New Marine Leisure Metropolitan-linked Free Zone” will be jointly pursued by Gyeongbuk and Busan. This project will test autonomous vessel navigation, maritime monitoring, and unmanned rescue technology in diverse marine environments, such as beaches and ports. Gyeongbuk will verify autonomous navigation technology, while Busan will separately test unmanned safety systems. Following these independent verifications, an integrated demonstration will be conducted to establish national safety standards for broader application.

The committee also discussed a set of innovative measures to improve the overall regulatory free zone system. These measures include: ▲the introduction of metropolitan-linked regulatory free zones; ▲enhanced communication with regulatory ministries and linkage with legislative improvements from designation to conclusion of the free zone; ▲improvements to the regulatory exemption system to ease the burden on companies; ▲support for nurturing special zone-based companies in connection with local policies such as the “Five Regions, Three Special Zones” and startup cities.

The agenda items reviewed at this meeting are expected to be submitted to the Regulatory Free Zone Committee later this month for final decision.

Noh Yongseok, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, “It is time to reform the system so that regulatory free zones can deliver even greater results,” and added, “We will actively support expanding inter-regional cooperation and enabling innovative companies to overcome regulatory barriers and grow.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.