Strategy for Innovative Clusters in the Changwon Industrial Complex, South Korea

The South Korean GDP per capita increased from US$ 80 in 1960 to US$ 18,970 in 2006. πus contributed to elevating South Korea to the position of the eleventh largest economy in the world. In order to ensure rapid development, the national government constructed several large-sized industrial complexes at the nationallevel and small- dmedium-sized indusσial complexes at le region level in the 1970s. In line with the central government’s policy, the Changwon Industrial Complex was opened in 1974 for developing the machine indusT. As a result, 2006 witnessed the operation of 1,294 compues and the creation of over 73,000 jobs. The average annual growth rate was 9% during the 1990s. The Complex is extremely competitive in hardware sectors such as infrastructure and manufacturing. However, some areas in the software sector such as R&D and industrial design have certain limitations. Such intemal limitations restrict further development of the Complex and the creation of high value-added productivity. The paper debates on how the South Korean national development strategy has undergone change, particularly in the context of advancecl nations ancl the ongoing globalization process. Further, it also discusses why the Changwon Industrial Complex needs to rearrange its development strategy in order to focus on innovative clusters lat enable the convergence of advanced technologies.