ULSAN — Ulsan is mobilizing its administrative resources to win the headquarters of "Korea Power" (tentative name), a single entity to be created by merging five state-run power generation companies and set to launch in October 2027. The city aims to anchor the control tower of the national power industry in Ulsan by highlighting its research and development ecosystem, built around a cluster of state-run energy agencies, and its position as the country's largest consumer of industrial electricity.
Shin Min-sik, Ulsan's vice mayor for economic affairs, held a briefing on the 14th to explain why the merged headquarters should be located in Ulsan and to outline the city's plans going forward.
The government announced a plan to overhaul the functions of state-run institutions on Sept. 3 and launched a preparatory committee for the merger of the five power generation companies on Sept. 30. Starting with the enactment of a special merger law in December, it plans to formally launch the merged Korea Power entity on Oct. 1 next year.
The city views the launch of the merged entity as more than a consolidation of institutions, calling it a pivotal step in restructuring how the national power industry is run by linking generation with electricity demand management at industrial sites, energy efficiency and the transition to future energy sources.
The city argued that Ulsan is the best place to carry out the strategy behind the government's reform plan, and presented three main arguments for its bid.
The first is the concentration of energy transition and R&D clusters. Ulsan is building the country's largest floating offshore wind complex and a hydrogen economy ecosystem, putting it in the best position to lead the government's coal phase-out policy, the shift to renewable energy, and the testing and commercialization of new and renewable technologies. The city said core state-run institutions including Korea East-West Power, Korea National Oil Corporation, the Korea Energy Economics Institute and the Korea Energy Agency are already based in its innovation city, while global energy companies such as SK and S-OIL are clustered there, allowing the city to maximize synergies in R&D investment and technology demonstration.
The second is securing the national supply chain for advanced industries and the stability of power supply. Ulsan is home to key national industries such as autos, shipbuilding and petrochemicals, as well as large-scale power-consuming infrastructure including artificial intelligence data centers. The city argues that locating the merged headquarters in an industrial cluster at the front line of electricity consumption would allow immediate diagnosis of and response to imbalances in power supply and demand on the ground, supporting the stability of the national industrial supply chain.
The third is becoming a global power generation company and achieving a "just energy transition." The city said that going beyond administrative convenience or a simple balanced-development argument, the headquarters should be placed in Ulsan — a Northeast Asian energy hub where global investors and next-generation energy infrastructure converge — to secure world-class competitiveness. It stressed in particular that Ulsan could complete a successful model of the national energy transition, turning from a heavy chemical industrial city centered on oil and thermal power into a city centered on carbon-free and renewable energy.
Still, conditions for the bid are not easy amid fierce competition among local governments. Although Korea East-West Power is headquartered in Ulsan, a complex mix of interests is at play, including the location of actual power plants, the scale of facilities and sentiment among labor unions.
The city defines Korea East-West Power as a core energy institution it cannot afford to give up, and plans to find a way forward through on-site communication and cooperation with politicians. Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook will first visit Korea East-West Power's generation sites this month to hear the views of management and workers on the ground and explore joint responses to support the bid for the merged headquarters.
The city also plans to strengthen cooperation with the Ulsan Metropolitan Council and maintain close coordination with National Assembly members from the region, who have been actively raising the case for Ulsan during the parliamentary audit of government agencies, as it continues to make its case to the government and the National Assembly.
"Bringing the Korea Power headquarters to Ulsan is an important opportunity to redesign the region's future industrial structure," Shin said. "We will bring together all our capabilities so that Ulsan's industrial strengths and the case for hosting the headquarters are fully reflected by the time the government announces the location, and we will deliver real results."