Korea Startup Forum, the country's largest startup association, discussed ways to drive innovation on Jeju Island using startup technology with Jeju Governor Wi Sung-gon.
The forum held the "Startup x Jeju Innovation Talk" on the 18th on the playground of the former Josu Elementary School in Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City. The session was part of "Startups Draw Jeju," an event marking the forum's 10th anniversary. Attendees included Korea Startup Forum Chairman Kim Jae-won, Wi, Socar (403550) CEO Park Jae-wook and executives from about 80 startups.
Four startups — 60Hertz, Yes Future, Doctornow and Sejong Engineering — presented ways their technologies could address issues facing Jeju. Climate tech firm 60Hertz proposed a pilot program that would store surplus renewable power generated on the island in electric vehicles and batteries, then certify and trade it on an hourly basis. "Power producers can sell the extra electricity left over on Jeju, and users can profit simply by charging," said Song Min-young, a director at 60Hertz.
Yes Future, which operates a platform supporting foreign residents in Korea, introduced "B-Visa Local," a region-based system for managing foreign residents. "It is software that lets you track which foreigners have entered Jeju, when their visas expire and what they are actually studying or doing for work," said Yes Future CEO Lee Hyun-jae. "There is no official system for checking a foreign resident's contact details and status three months after arrival, and B-Visa will fill that gap."
Telemedicine platform Doctornow presented plans to improve access to care in medically underserved areas through remote consultations and medication delivery. Noting the shortage of doctors and hospitals on Jeju, Doctornow CEO Chung Jin-woong said, "If patients can see a doctor remotely and have medicine delivered by courier, a process that can take up to two and a half hours — traveling to the hospital, getting treatment and picking up prescriptions — could be cut to about 30 minutes."
"Future mobility systems are emerging as a hot topic on Jeju, so we see plenty of potential to carry out medication delivery in an eco-friendly way," he added. "Over the longer term, we will upgrade the service so that consultations and monitoring at secondary and tertiary medical institutions can also be done remotely."
Urban planning firm Sejong Engineering proposed building a drone- and artificial intelligence-based system for responding to missing-person cases. "Jeju has a wide search area, so finding missing people requires a lot of manpower, which is not realistic," said Sejong Engineering CEO Choi Hong-seo. "We need a system in which drones reach the site before people do once coordinates are reported, to locate the missing person." Having AI draft reports based on drone footage would allow for faster response, the company said.
In the discussion that followed, Wi, Kim and Park each laid out their own visions for innovation on Jeju. "We hope deregulation on Jeju will create new markets," Kim said. "For entrepreneurs to gather here, it is important to have living infrastructure where they can stay with their families, so it would be good to see a 'startup village' on Jeju."
"This year, Socar has been working on how to build commercial services using autonomous driving technology," Park said. "On Jeju in particular, there are situations where taxis are hard to find, such as in mountainous areas or at the airport late at night, and we want self-driving vehicles to fill that gap." Socar has kept its headquarters on Jeju since it was founded in 2011.
Wi stressed his intention to attract entrepreneurs through deregulation and better living conditions. "Jeju is a small island, which makes it a space where various experiments are possible," he said. "Whatever regulation businesses bring to us, we will work actively to resolve it using tools such as the regulatory sandbox and investment innovation districts."
"We will expand the International Baccalaureate curriculum, which is drawing parents from across the country, to all schools on Jeju," he added. "We will also create a 1 trillion won ($720 million) future growth fund and build competitiveness around things only Jeju can do."
Actor Ryu Seung-ryong and Kwon Yu-ri, a member of Girls' Generation and an actor, both of whom have long expressed affection for Jeju, also attended the event. "I am leaving with good energy from all these innovative ideas," Kwon said. Ryu said, "I hope another unicorn to follow food-delivery giant Baedal Minjok (Baemin) and Socar emerges from here," adding, "I hope startups contribute to making the world a more beautiful place."
