Issue Using the whole playground: agile cross-regional value chains for advanced S&T

Summary

The author proposes a hypothetical scenario of agile value-chain linkage and cooperation across the five poles and three special zones in order to use the national playground more broadly. Within that framework, the idea is to cross the boundaries of the eight administrative zones flexibly so that regional flagship technology and industry value chains produce maximum effect. Regions strong in basic research would supply innovation seeds while regions rich in industrial infrastructure serve as test beds, forming an open innovation system from discovery to scale-up and a supra-regional chain from materials to services. The regional plans are grouped into four national value chains, namely intelligent mobility and robots, next-generation semiconductors, bio and digital health care, and clean energy with secondary batteries. In the semiconductor chain, for example, ceramic materials from Gangwon and self-reliant materials from North Gyeongsang would feed chip production in other regions, with Daejeon linking chips to defense demand. The author presents the scheme as integrating innovation processes by fitting regional strengths together like puzzle pieces, beyond administrative merger or regional alliance.