South Korea to create 4 global leading cities for startups by 2030

South Korea will push to create by 2030 four cities that will rank within the best 100 cities in the world to start a new business, the startups ministry said Thursday, Yonhap reports.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups unveiled its ambitious plan under a road map aimed at diversifying the country's startup ecosystem, which currently is heavily concentrated in Seoul.

South Korea ranked No. 20 on the list of countries with the best startup ecosystem, according to a 2024 report by StartupBlink, a global innovation economy research platform.

Seoul was the only city to be listed among the top 100 cities with startup genome, at 21st place. The southeastern port city of Busan, the central city of Daejeon and Incheon, just west of Seoul, ranked number 366, 429 and 458, respectively.