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Seoul spends on bicycles

Lee aims to make Korea leading bike maker in next five years

May 04, 2009


	President Lee Myung-bak rides on a bicycle at an event in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, yesterday.“Every time there is an energy crisis not only is our economy being threatened but every sector faces a crisis,” President Lee said. [YONHAP]

As you’ve no doubt heard, a major part of the government’s green growth policy is promotion of the bicycle - and so Korea is extending support to domestic manufacturers.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said yesterday that it will be establishing a high-tech bicycle research and development network in Daedeok, South Chungcheong.

Manufacturing complexes exclusively for bicycle parts and materials will also be erected in Suncheon, South Jeolla, and Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang. The ministry said 10 billion won ($7.83 million) from the supplementary budget will be allocated to help the bicycle industry.

President Lee Myung-bak, participating in Korea’s first bicycle festival in Changwon, was confident that Korea would become one of the world’s bicycle leaders in the next five years.

“Korea was a latecomer in automobile manufacturing [too], but after 20 years Korea has become one of the world’s top five [auto] manufacturing countries,” Lee said. “Korea may be depending mostly on imported bicycles, but in less than five years Korea will likely be one of the three major bicycle countries in the world.”

The Daedeok research and development network will use existing centers including the state-owned Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute to develop bike-related technologies such as navigation systems. The complexes in Suncheon and Yeongcheon will specialize in new materials and parts to make bicycles lighter, yet stronger. The government said it is also considering expanding a subsidy for commuting to work via bicycle to promote their use for transport.

The city government of Changwon, now gives 30,000 won per month to workers who commute to work on bicycles for more than 15 days.

The government also plans to increase the number of bicycles available for rent to the public from the current 15,000 to 65,000 by 2011.

The bicycle industry globally is expanding rapidly. According to Global Industry Analysis the market last year was $54.9 billion, and is likely to expand to $61 billion by 2010. But the local industry has fallen behind imported bicycles. Although Korea manufactured 1.5 million bicycles in 1990, in 2007 it only made 20,000.

By Kwon Hyuk-joo, Lee Ho-jeong [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]

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