Mr. James Kwak
Director General, JDC
James Kwak, general director of Advanced Science and Technology Complex in JDC, conducts business support through establishing development policy for venture capital, and small-medium enterprise located in Jeju including Jeju Advanced Science Park.
James Kwak has served as a head of departments such as Future Busienss, Planning and Coordination, in charge of panning and launching projects, since 2002 after his experience in Shinsegae and Sony Korea. Having being recognized in his career, James Kwak has been awarded Commendation of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Chairman’s Commendation of National Land and Transportation Committee. James Kwak
has achieved an MBA in Nihon University.
Category: Social Responsibility of Science and Technology Park
Topic: ‘Creation of an innovative ecosystem through Jeju Science Park and its significance’
JDC is an institution that plays a role in raising the status of Korea and raising the standard of living in the region through the achievement of a free international city. To this end, tangible 1) Jeju Science Park 2) Shinhwa Theme Park 3) Global education city has been built since 2002. During 2002~2018, these projects contribute to average annual growth, achieving 4.4%. Among them, Jeju Science Park is a project that JDC started to build in 2004. During the same period, Jeju Science Park achieved an average annual growth rate of 11.9%, establishing itself as the core of the Jeju economy. Currently, IT companies such as Kakao and Eastsoft are located in the complex.
Since 2018, JDC has been playing the role of a hub supporting start-up companies by initiating the Innovation Growth Center(‘Route330’) in a Science Park to create an innovative ecosystem on Jeju Island. As a result, the total corporate investment amount of 52.2 billion USD and 542 jobs were newly created until 2021. Among individual companies, Nature Mobility(IT Platform) grew into a Korean baby unicorn in 2022 and is about to be listed on the KOSPI. In the case of RideFlux(Automotive Software), they achieved a Series A investment of 12.2 billion USD in 2021.
For the growth of technology companies utilizing the regional characteristics of Jeju Island, which is economically and socially 1% of Korea's size, JDC supports the growth of innovative companies through cooperation with specialized institutions such as MYSC and KAIST within the Innovation Growth Center, and furthermore, Through this presentation, the speakers would like to reveal JDC's efforts to contribute to the development of Jeju island.
