Taejon Chosen as Home to Global Science Belt

Taejon's history as Korea's first and foremost "Science City," dates back to the administration of President Park Chung Hee and the establishment of KAIST.   In the 1980s the Daedok Science Town, now called the Daedok Innopolis, grew up adjacent to the city.   All of this development was given a large boost by the 1993 Taejon International Expo.  So, the Taejon area has already developed an international reputation as a research hub.
In May of this year, the Korean government announced a decision that will give a large further boost to the status of Taejon and surrounding areas as a science belt and hopefully a major global hub for basic research. (click on the accompanying graphic to see a full size version of the map) As reported in The Chosun Ilbo,the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced that Daejeon was selected because it already features research and development facilities as well as science-related government agencies.
The nearby cities of Cheongwon, Cheonan and Yeongi in the Chungcheong provinces will serve as support centers for the cluster in Daejeon. The government plans to invest US$4.8 billion in the project by 2017, with $2.1 billion earmarked for investment in Daejeon and the Chungcheong provinces.
Yonhap News reported that The science business belt selection committee said the Daedeok district in the northern part of Daejeon, located 164 kilometers south of Seoul, will host the National Basic Science Institute and a particle accelerator, which are key research facilities in the project.
"Seoul aims to build two areas within the district as a global hub for basic scientific research," said Minister of Education, Science and Technology Lee Ju-ho, who chairs the committee. Lee said technology universities in North Gyeongsang Province and Gwangju are to take part in cooperative science projects led by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon.
"The Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, and Pohang University of Science and Technology will become part of a 'combined KAIST campus' to push forward R&D," the minister said.