- Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announces ‘Master plan for Management and Utilization of Marine Healing Resources’ -

 

After deliberation by the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Development Committee, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok) announced the Master plan for the Management and Utilization of Marine Healing Resources (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Master Plan’) through the ‘Central Emergency Economic Countermeasure Headquarters’ on December 16th(Thursday).

 

‘Marine healing’ refers to activities to improve the health of the people, such as improving constitution, improving immunity, and anti-aging by utilizing marine healing resources. In countries such as Germany and France, the marine healing industry has already been activated due to high interest in the quality of life, and in particular, it is in the spotlight as a new industry that will lead the healthy lives of the people and growth engines in coastal areas in the post-COVID-19 era.

 

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as the ‘MOF’) enacted ('20.2) and implemented ('21.2) the「ACT ON THE MANAGEMENT AND UTILIZATION OF MARINE HEALING RESOURCES」to foster the marine healing industry. And over the next five years, the Master plan will lay the foundation for the marine healing industry and promote full-scale industrialization.

 

The plan up to 2026, under the vision of ‘creating a Korean-style marine healing model (K-Marine Healing) that the world pays attention to,’ includes three goals: ▲ Securing reliability through verification of the efficacy of marine healing resources ▲ The growth of Coastal areas through industrial foundation construction ▲ Improving the quality of life with marine healing, and also three strategies with 10 detailed implementation tasks.

(Strategy ①) Discover marine healing contents for four seasons

 

Establish a full-cycle management system for "discovery-verification-utilization-after treatment" of marine healing resources and in order to diversify the marine healing contents, build connection with local tourism resources and research on commercialization   1. Establish a system for the use and management of marine healing resources 2. Discover regional specialization and convergence programs 3. Technology development to diversify marine healing

 

Establish a management system for marine healing resources, which is the core material for the marine healing industry, and discover the contents through development of specialized programs and commercialization research.

 

First, new healing resources will be discovered additionally through research on resources in platforms such as Marine Bio bank* or believed to be healing-effective. And MOF will establish a database through research on the distribution status and the amount of marine healing resources that have been found to be effective.

 

* A material bank that discovers useful marine life materials and provides them to companies, etc.

 

Especially, further to confirming the efficacy of marine healing resources, MOF plans to develop standard application technologies by proof of medical and scientific efficacy mechanism, and plans to establish a whole cycle management system such as "collection-processing-storage-utilization-treatment" by establishing resource management standards and manuals to secure safety.

 

Also, MOF is planning to develop marine healing programs that consider the characteristics of regional resources and the demand for each major treatment targets, and then discover marine healing services linked with local tourism infrastructure such as beaches, resorts, and marine leisure&tourism bases.
In addition, in order to diversify marine healing services, healing equipment and devices with technologies such as ICT and IoT will be developed, 4 pilot Marine Healing Centers will be fostered as industry-academic cooperation bases to support empirical research. It is also planning to utilize regional start-up and investment support centers to support privately-led development of marine healing resources and tourism products.

 

(Strategy ②) Construct infrastructure for marine healing services

 

Establish a foundation for providing marine healing services to the public, such as Marine Healing Centers and Marine Healing Districts, and promote the establishment of an integrated system to activate the use of information of marine healing resources.   1. Create a demonstration base for marine healing 2. Create and expand a space for providing marine healing services 3. Establish an integrated information system for marine healing resources

 

Add to discovering contents, Marine Healing Centers and Marine Healing Districts, which are bases for providing marine healing services, will be established and an information system will be established to support the development of marine healing programs and services.

 

Marine Healing Centers*, which is currently under construction in four regions, will be developed as a complex space including functions that operate healing programs and manage healing resources, and each local government will come up with plans to operate the centers.

 

* Wando(2022), Taean, Uljin, and Goseong in Gyeongnam(2023)

 

In addition, MOF will designate Marine Healing Districts where marine healing facilities will be installed and services provided, and use it as an industrial base, and plans to expand it to the other local governments located on the coast, starting with the location of Marine Healing Centers. With that, it is intended to contribute to vitalization of fishing village tourism and job creation by remodeling a fishing village with excellent healing resources and infrastructure into a marine healing experience space.

 

Furthermore, the 'Marine Healing Resources Integrated Information System' will be established to provide information on marine healing resources, programs, Marine Healing Centers and experts. This system will support the use of information from companies and research institutes, and enhance users’ access to marine healing services and convenience of use.

 

(Strategy ③) Establishing an industrial ecosystem for marine healing

 

To reorganize the marine healing industrialization system in its infancy and establish the foundation for sustainable development, prepare a nurturing of professional human resource and certification system, and develop the governance.   1. Professional manpower training, 2. Standardize services, 3. Establish a cooperative network, 4. Promote public awareness

 

In order to improve the system that can foster and vitalize the marine healing industry, MOF is planning to train professional personnel, establish a service-related certification system, develop the governance among related organizations and strengthen publicity

 

First of all, MOF plans to designate professional training institutions of marine healing and design a professional qualification course based on National Competency Standards(NCS) to discover a talent suitable for industrial sites. Afterwards, it plans to create national professional qualification system called ‘(tentative)Marine Healing Instructor’

 

Also, to ensure quality control and reliability of marine healing services, MOF plans to establish the certification system of marine healing programs, facilities and equipments, and continuously verify and manage the effectiveness and safety of marine healing.

 

In addition, MOF plans to establish a network with related agencies, including Ministry of Environment, Korea Forest Service, and Rural Development Administration, to promote information sharing and cooperation to activate the healing industry. And MOF plans to raise awareness of marine healing through continuous publicity and experience programs to the public.

 

“Through this plan, we will foster the marine healing industry in earnest over the next five years,” said Cheol-jo Lee, director general for marine policy bureau at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. “We hope that the marine healing industry will become a core industry to revitalize the local economy and help healthy lives.”