Korea names Yeosu, Suncheon, Gwangyang areas special suppor…

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has newly designated the Yulchon No. 1 General Industrial Complex and the Hwayang Agricultural-Industrial Complex as a special support region for small and medium-sized enterprises, granting both zones designated status for two years. The decision was published on 29 October 2026 in the Official Gazette (관보) No. 21350 as notice 제2026-611호, signed by the Minister of SMEs and Startups. The designated land lies in Yeosu, Suncheon and Gwangyang in the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City.

The designation rests on Article 23 of the Act on the Fostering of Regional Small and Medium Enterprises and Promotion of Innovation and on Articles 24 and 25 of its enforcement decree. The notice records the designation as a new one, fixes its boundaries and area by complex, and sets a term of exactly two years. It takes effect on the date of publication and runs to 28 October 2028.

Nine square kilometres across three municipalities

The larger of the two zones is the industrial complex straddling three local authorities, while the second is a much smaller agricultural-industrial estate in Yeosu.

Yulchon No. 1 General Industrial Complex: 9,106,791.0 square metres, covering parts of Yulchon township in Yeosu, Haeryong township in Suncheon and Gwangyang township in Gwangyang.
Hwayang Agricultural-Industrial Complex: 119,306.9 square metres, covering Hwadong-ri in Hwayang township, Yeosu.
Combined footprint of the new designation: 9,226,097.9 square metres.

A term running to October 2028

The designation period is stated as 29 October 2026 to 28 October 2028, a span of two years, and the notice classifies the action as a new designation rather than an extension. No extension of the term is recorded in the notice.

Designation type: new designation (신규 지정).
Start date: 29 October 2026, the date of publication.
End date: 28 October 2028.

Twenty-two zones already on the register

The notice appends the standing list of special support regions as of 29 October 2026, against which the two new zones now sit. Most of the older entries were extended once and expire during 2027.

Geumsa Industrial Area in Geumjeong district, Busan: in force to 25 January 2027, first extension.
The Pohang steel complexes 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the Daesong township industrial area in Pohang, North Gyeongsang: to 25 January 2027, first extension.
The Bukpyeong national and general industrial complexes in Donghae, Gangwon: to 26 February 2027.
Gimje Jipyeongseon, Jeongeup, Naju, Naju Innovation, Jangheung Bio-Food, Gangjin, Donghampyeong and Sepung stage-one complexes across the Jeonnam-Gwangju region: to 26 February 2027.
Namhu and Yeongdeok No. 2 agricultural-industrial complexes: to 7 July 2027.
Hanam, Jingok and the Pyeongdong first, second and third complexes in Gwangju: to 20 November 2027.

With the two additions, the register lists 24 designated areas, and the Yeosu–Suncheon–Gwangyang zones are the only entries whose term extends into the second half of 2028.

What the notice fixes and what it leaves open

The published text confines itself to the identity of the two zones, their cadastral descriptions, their measured areas, the designation type and the two-year term; it does not itemise the individual tax, financing or site benefits available inside the boundaries. Those follow from the framework act cited as the legal basis, under which designated areas are the unit to which support measures attach. Firms and municipalities seeking the particulars must therefore work from the statute and decree named in the notice rather than from the notice itself.

Why it matters

For companies holding or seeking premises in the two complexes, the notice fixes a hard calendar: the status begins on 29 October 2026 and lapses on 28 October 2028 unless a further designation is published. For the three municipal authorities involved, the entry adds a second industrial estate in Yeosu to the national register alongside the far larger complex shared with Suncheon and Gwangyang, and it leaves the pair as the register’s longest-running designations.

Source: 관보 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Korea), No. 21350, 29 October 2026, notices (공고), p. 503 (official reference: 중소벤처기업부공고 제2026-611호).