Songpa ICT security cluster construction begins

The science ministry said Tuesday that construction had begun on the first phase of the Songpa ICT Security Cluster in Seoul, a 60.9 billion won ($44.1 million) project to strengthen South Korea's ICT security capacity and create a digital-industry growth hub.

Funded through the national-property management fund, the phase will cover 13,560 square meters and is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2029. Plans call for a two-basement, seven-story Central Radio Management Service headquarters and Radio Playground, a testing facility where small and venture businesses can test and validate products using radio technology.

The broader three-stage development will cluster radio and information-security organizations, private offices and commercial facilities on the roughly 50,000-square-meter Central Radio Management Service site. Construction on the second and third stages is planned after the first phase is complete. Stage two will build public offices for the Korea Internet and Security Agency's Internet Incident Response Center and the Korea Radio Promotion Association's Radio Broadcasting and Communications Education Center, followed by general office, commercial and residential facilities.

Ryu Je-myung, the science ministry's second vice minister, said, "This groundbreaking is the first step in transforming a historic site that has long managed South Korea's radio resources into a hub for ICT security." He said the ministry would provide administrative and financial support.