“Global Industrial Hub” Strategy: Expanding Korea’s Economic Territory Beyond Peak Korea
Institute for Future Strategy Issue Brief, Vol. 61
“Global Industrial Hub” Strategy: Expanding Korea’s Economic Territory Beyond Peak Korea
This issue brief proposes the “Global Industrial Hub” strategy as a new national growth strategy in a situation where concerns over “Peak Korea” are becoming a reality due to population decline, stagnation in domestic demand, and a decline in the potential growth rate, while the existing growth model is facing limitations amid the intensification of protectionism.
In particular, as the AI Transformation (AX) and Green Transformation (GX) proceed simultaneously, the brief emphasizes that Korea needs to transform its national role beyond the existing export-led and “super-gap” strategies into that of a “global node” and “industrial hub” that strategically connects and coordinates the technologies of advanced countries with the markets of emerging countries. Through this, it proposes the need for a new growth strategy that simultaneously expands Korea’s economic territory to the world and upgrades domestic industries toward higher value-added activities.
Accordingly, this issue brief presents “global expansion of economic territory” and “upgrading of domestic industries” as its core strategies, and emphasizes the need for a new growth equation of “expansion and upgrading” that organically connects global hubs with the domestic economy. With advanced countries, it proposes strengthening technology and standards alliances through production and R&D linkages. In emerging countries, it proposes securing “second domestic markets” by transferring Korean-style industrial ecosystems, while concentrating high-value-added functions such as R&D and finance, as well as the role of control tower for global supply chains, within Korea.
In addition, the brief presents three major safeguards: ① institutional innovation for sustainable industrial transformation and capital circulation; ② innovation of mother factories and strengthening supply-chain cohesion; and ③ the establishment of a pan-national integrated implementation system. Through these measures, it emphasizes that Korea should move beyond “Peak Korea” and make the leap toward becoming a Global Industrial Hub.
