Licensing Period for Ulsan Hyundai Internal Combustion Engine to Electric Vehicle Plant Cut from Three Years to One

MOEF Announces Second Phase of On-Site Corporate Investment Support Plan
Integrated Bidding for Electricity and Telecommunications Work at Semiconductor Fabs Allowed

The government will drastically reduce the permitting period required to rebuild Hyundai Motor Company's internal combustion engine plant in Ulsan into an electric vehicle plant, shortening it from three years to just one. When constructing new semiconductor fabs, which require precise coordination between processes, the government will also allow integrated bidding for electricity and telecommunications work.

On September 30, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and other relevant agencies held a joint meeting of the Emergency Economic Headquarters and the Economic Ministers' Meeting, at which they announced the 'On-Site-Focused Corporate Investment and Innovation Support Plan (Phase 2)' containing these measures. The government plans to resolve investment bottlenecks and swiftly address on-site challenges, aiming to ensure that corporate investment and innovation lead to a rebound in the potential growth rate and the creation of quality jobs.

Workers are operating on the automobile production line at the Ulsan Plant.

Ulsan Hyundai Plant Transformation to Be Fast-Tracked Within a Year... Accelerated Implementation of 7.9 Trillion KRW Pending Projects

First, the government will help accelerate the implementation of on-site pending projects in advanced industries worth a total of 7.9 trillion won.

The most prominent example is the 4 trillion won project to rebuild Hyundai Motor Company's internal combustion engine production line in Ulsan. This project will transform the facility into a plant focused on autonomous electric vehicles, and by applying a fast-track process, the periods for licensing and various impact assessments will be reduced from three years to within one year.

The total reconstruction currently underway at Hyundai Motor Company's Plants 1 and 4 was originally expected to take 6 to 8 months for preliminary preparation, 12 to 16 months for environmental, traffic, and disaster impact assessments, and 14 to 16 months for granting permits—raising concerns about the project’s lengthiness. The government plans to provide prior consulting and start all processes, including impact assessments, simultaneously to complete the administrative procedures within 12 months.

An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "We will assign a dedicated project manager (PM) to Ulsan City to facilitate communication between the central government, local authorities, and companies. If similar investments are made in other regions, we will work with relevant ministries and local governments to ensure the same fast-track process applies."

In addition, the government will open up a clean hydrogen power generation bidding market within this month to meet the 3 trillion won investment demand for domestic clean hydrogen production and power generation facilities. Last year, the government had announced a competitive bidding scheme but abruptly canceled it. At that time, the notice included provisions permitting coal-ammonia co-firing power generation, which conflicted with the current government's policy of phasing out coal-fired power by 2030. Therefore, coal-ammonia co-firing power generation will be excluded from facility requirements moving forward, and the government's contribution to the domestic clean hydrogen ecosystem will be more broadly reflected in the evaluation. Through these measures, more than 3 trillion won in corporate investments are expected to resume.

The period required to amend environmental impact assessments when introducing new eco-friendly, high-efficiency LNG blending technologies to byproduct cogeneration facilities will also be reduced from three months to within one month. This will help save around 69.7 billion won in fuel costs and enable investments to be secured earlier.

The designation process for the Muan National Industrial Complex as a fast-track project will be expedited by over a year. The scope of hazardous material safety management exceptions will be expanded to include secondary battery materials, components, and equipment companies, drawing in an additional 70.2 billion won in new investment. A specialized sonar company will be supported by facilitating entry into the Bio-Convergence Industrial Technology Complex as a site for manufacturing facility expansion, with a scale of 40 billion won.

Integrated Bidding for Electricity and Telecommunications Work at Semiconductor Fabs Allowed... On-Site Tailored Regulatory Improvements

The government will also establish an institutional foundation to promote investment. When companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix build new semiconductor fabs, they will be allowed to conduct integrated bidding for both electricity and telecommunications construction. Previously, these two types of work had to be tendered separately, preventing general contractors from managing the site in a comprehensive manner. As a result, repeated problems occurred, including inadequate construction safety management, difficulties in overall process management, and challenges in prompt maintenance. Starting next year, integrated bidding will be permitted, but only for semiconductor fabs. A Ministry of Economy and Finance official explained, "This measure accounts for technological advances and external environmental changes," and went on to say, "Because process coordination is extremely important in semiconductor fabs, even minor differences can lead to errors if electricity and telecommunications works are separated—for this reason, the change is limited only to fabs."

Special regulations will also be put in place to prevent delays in the operation of semiconductor production equipment. Currently, every time a cylinder cabinet is installed, a technical review and modification permit are required, which took at least one week per installation. From now on, the procedure can be processed collectively when multiple units are installed at once. The Ministry explained, "We have accepted the industry’s request, as frequent changes in the number of cylinder cabinets is an inherent feature of the process."

Additionally, to facilitate the expansion of agrivoltaics, standards for the scope of small-scale environmental impact assessments will be rationalized. With the premise of safety devices being installed, a regulatory sandbox designation will also be promoted to allow for pilot installation of stand-alone reformers within buildings. In the case of Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) projects, revision of operating costs, including labor cost changes due to adjustments in standard working hours, will be explicitly included as reasons for cost adjustment to encourage private investment.

Expanded Fiscal Support for Core R&D in Robotics and Semiconductors... Increased Funding for Future High-Tech Industries

Fiscal support will also be increased to secure core technologies for next-generation high-tech industries. A new project will be launched to develop core technologies for large-diameter wafer (8 inches and above) processing equipment, with 5 billion won in funding provided next year and demonstration infrastructure strengthened. Another 13.3 billion won will be invested in maximizing commercial battery performance for humanoid robots and developing next-generation battery technologies. Dedicated R&D efforts for the focused development of the three major weak-point components in robotics—next-generation actuators, sensors, and robot hands—will also be established, with a government budget of 100 billion won to be invested between next year and 2029.

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