[Interview] Kim Ki-cheol, Head of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City European Office: “For the First Gateway, I Would Recommend Germany”

〈Editor’s Note〉
The Korea Agricultural Technology News has examined the current state of Korean agri-food in the European market in a two-part special report. Part ① addressed the gaps by item revealed in export statistics and the issue of repeat orders, while Part ② dealt with EU regulatory barriers that became full-fledged in 2026 and the practical response to them. The basis for the two reports was a written interview with Kim Ki-cheol, head of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City European Office and an overseas contributor to the Korea Agricultural Technology News. The final installment presents, in a Q&A format, topics that could not be included in the special reports, such as entry routes into Europe for Korean agtech companies and Europe’s policies for young farmers.

 

Kim Ki-cheol, head of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City European Office, assessed that the issue in the European agricultural machinery market is no longer the size of machines. Standards connecting equipment from different manufacturers, field-level data and work histories, selective pest control using cameras and AI, autonomous driving, and predictive maintenance are moving as one package, he said. He also pointed out that farmers consider data ownership and the risk of downtime as much as equipment prices.

He believes Korean companies have strengths in sensors, communications, control, and rapid product development, but may at times fall short in the multi-year durability data, standards-based interoperability, multilingual manuals, parts, and maintenance networks that European farmers demand. It is a warning that if the entry route is chosen incorrectly, companies may be stopped at the threshold regardless of their technological capabilities.

Director Kim Ki-cheol has led the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City European Office since it opened in the Frankfurt region of Germany in June 2012. It is the first office established in Europe by a Korean local government. The Korea Agricultural Technology News sent Director Kim a questionnaire consisting of 25 questions in six blocks on August 26, and received his answers on September 15.

 Agri-food as the core axis, Gwangju’s technology and manufacturing as the second axis

-Please introduce the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City European Office.
“The European Office opened in the Frankfurt region of Germany in June 2012. It is the first office established in Europe by a Korean local government. At the time of its establishment, Jeonnam was drawing up the blueprint for its onshore and offshore wind power industries, and its main goal was to attract Europe’s advanced wind power companies and related technologies and investment to the region.

At the time, because it was at the stage of business planning and foundation building, it was difficult to produce visible results in a short period. However, now that more than 10 years have passed, the region’s energy industry has begun to show full-fledged results based on the policies and industrial foundations accumulated over that time. It is highly meaningful in that the efforts made from a long-term perspective to discover overseas companies and technologies and build relationships are leading to the growth of regional industries. Since then, the office’s role has also expanded to include support for corporate exports, buyer discovery, exchanges between local governments, tourism and cultural promotion, and understanding policy and market trends in Europe.”
 

-With the launch of the Integrated Special City on July 1 this year, the office’s jurisdiction changed. What changes have there been in the scope of work, personnel, and budget?
“The biggest change is that the target of services and the range of industries have broadened. Previously, the focus was on Jeonnam’s agricultural, fisheries, and food products, products from small and medium-sized enterprises, and regional exchanges; now, we also cover Gwangju’s urban industries and technology companies, including automobiles and parts, energy, medical and healthcare, and artificial intelligence. In the European market, the distribution channels and regulatory systems for agri-food and industrial goods differ, so integration does not simply mean an increase in workload; it also means that support systems must be divided more precisely by industry.

That does not mean it is accurate to say that the share of agriculture and agri-food has decreased. This is because the Amazon brand store, permanent sales outlets, buyer network accumulated by the office, and recent support work for responding to the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) are all closely related to agri-food exports. However, with the integration, we are expanding in the direction of maintaining agri-food as the core axis while developing Gwangju’s technology and manufacturing industries as the second axis.

Personnel and the budget need to be redesigned in line with the integration to reflect the actual workload and areas of expertise. In particular, since there are limits to one team handling food regulations, technical certification, and digital marketing all at once, it is important to create close collaboration with the main office, specialized institutions, and local partners.”
 

-What is the role of the head of the European Office?
“It is to help Korean local governments and companies understand Europe’s systems, markets, and institutions, and conversely to connect European buyers and partners so they can trust the companies and technologies of our region. Recently, I have been spending a particularly large amount of time on exports of agricultural, fisheries, and food products, developing online and offline distribution channels, responding to EU regulations, exchanges between local governments, and cooperation in agricultural technology.”

The first gateway for European agricultural technology is Germany…Starting with technologies attached to existing equipment

While agri-food exports are narrowing into issues of regulations and paperwork, a different kind of barrier awaits in technology and manufacturing, which the office identified as its second axis. The European agricultural machinery market stands on long-standing business relationships and dense maintenance networks, and what it requires of new entrants is not performance alone. We asked Director Kim about realistic entry routes for Korean agtech companies.
 

-If Korean agricultural technology companies enter Europe, which country and which field would be the most realistic gateway?
“For the first gateway, I would recommend Germany. It has a large market for agricultural machinery, parts, and precision agriculture, and through agricultural machinery-sharing organizations, contractors, research institutes, and exhibitions, companies can find partners for real on-farm demonstrations. Rather than selling finished machines all at once, beginning with technologies that can be attached to existing equipment—such as sensors, vision, work modules, predictive maintenance, and energy management—could lower the barriers to entry.

For controlled-environment horticulture companies, the Netherlands has the highest technological level, but competition is also fierce. Rather than exporting complete smart farms as they are, companies should partner with local system integrators and target clear niches such as energy savings, crop-specific control, and labor reduction. France’s agricultural robot market is also promising, but local sales and maintenance partners and long-term demonstrations are essential. Ultimately, the country should be chosen according to the technological field and partners, and it is better to avoid trying to target all of Europe at once.”
 

-European farmers are sensitive to data ownership and the ‘right to repair.’ What problems will Korean smart farm and agricultural machinery companies face if they enter the market without preparing for this?
“European farmers look at data and downtime risks as much as equipment prices. The EU Data Act has strengthened the rights of users of connected products to access the data they generate and provide it to third parties. If equipment data is confined only to the manufacturer’s server or cannot be exported to other farm management systems, trust can be lost from the contract stage.

The ‘right to repair’ is not an expression applied as one rule to all agricultural machinery, but the core of what farmers demand is clear. Parts must be supplied within a reasonable period, diagnostic information and maintenance manuals must be provided, and repairs must be possible locally. If this is not prepared, a single breakdown during the farming season could lead to contract termination, damages, and a decline in reputation.

Products entering Europe must have data export functions, methods for linking with external systems, management of access rights by user, and offline operating functions, as well as parts lists and a remote diagnosis system. In addition, local after-sales service standards, such as response time after a breakdown is reported, repair deadlines, and parts supply periods, must be prepared from the stages of product design and market entry planning.”
 

-Among recent trends in European agricultural machinery and precision agriculture, what do you feel Korea has not yet caught up with?
“The center of recent trends is connectivity and work results rather than larger machines themselves. Standards that connect equipment from different manufacturers, field-level data and work histories, selective pest control and weeding using cameras and AI, autonomous driving, electrification and alternative fuels, predictive maintenance, and contract work services are moving together. As much as technological performance, the ability to connect with farmers’ existing equipment and automatically leave compliance records is important.

Korean technology has strengths in sensors, communications, control, and rapid product development. However, there are times when it falls short in the multi-year durability data, standards-based interoperability, multilingual manuals, CE certification, cybersecurity, data governance, parts, and maintenance networks that European farmers demand. Doing a good demonstration at an exhibition and being responsible for 10 consecutive hours of work during the farming season for several years are different matters. European-style product development should regard local demonstrations and service design as part of research and development (R&D).”

EU young farmer policy: A package of farmland, technology, and sales channels is more important than the size of the subsidy

European rural areas are no different from Korea in that they also face aging and succession issues. However, the response methods differ. Director Kim said attention should be paid to the fact that the EU designs support for young farmers not as a single project, but as a bundle of multiple systems.
 

-Among Europe’s support and generational renewal policies for young farmers, what systems could Korea refer to?
“The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) requires member states to spend resources equivalent to at least 3% of their direct payments budget on support for young farmers, and combines additional income support for young farmers, start-up support, investment support, and rural business start-ups. In addition, each country connects farmland leasing and purchasing, succession, pensions, low-interest financing, and education and advisory services. The important point is that it does not end with a one-time start-up fund, but looks at farmland, technology, sales channels, and the foundation for living as a bundle.

What Korea should refer to is also package design rather than ‘the size of the subsidy.’ It should deal together with succession brokerage that connects retiring farmers and young farmers, income stability for the first five years, shared agricultural machinery and specialized work services, management and technology mentoring, and housing, care, and education within the region. More than bringing young people to rural areas, the core of generational renewal policy is creating profit models and organizations that allow them to continue farming even 10 years later.”
 

-What goals does the European Office want to achieve going forward?
“It is to make the office’s support not end with simple consultations or participation in events, but become a system through which companies actually complete regulatory documents and proceed to repeat orders and local demonstrations.

First, we will establish the PPWR Response Support Center as a Jeonnam-Gwangju-type EU regulatory response platform. Over the next year, we will focus on preparing packaging composition tables for each participating company’s products, securing data from packaging material suppliers, and actually completing technical documentation (TD) and declarations of conformity (DoC). We will standardize the data request forms, checklists, and document-writing formats developed in this process, and compile repeated supplementary items into casebooks excluding company information. Afterward, based on corporate demand and urgency, we plan to gradually expand the scope of support to food contact safety, deforestation prevention, carbon and product safety, and data regulations.

Second, we will change the standard for export support from ‘how many products were listed’ to ‘how much was sold and reordered.’ We will analyze sales volume, consumer responses, reasons for returns, and reorder data secured from Amazon and permanent sales outlets by product, and concentrate marketing on products with high potential. We will also attempt joint promotions linking Jeonnam’s agricultural, fisheries, and food products with Gwangju’s design, packaging, digital marketing, and manufacturing technologies, so that one-off sales lead to repeat orders and long-term distribution contracts.

Third, in the field of agricultural technology, we will first investigate technology demand among farmer organizations, research institutes, and agricultural machinery dealers in Germany and the Netherlands, and then select, from among domestic companies’ smart farm and agricultural machinery products, those with high potential for local application. We will not stop at introducing products at exhibitions, but will conduct demonstrations on actual farms for one cropping season and verify in numbers the yield, labor hours, energy and water use, breakdowns, and downtime. From the demonstration stage, we will involve service partners responsible for local installation, training, and repairs, so that after the demonstration ends, it leads to sales and maintenance contracts.

Ultimately, our aim is to help Jeonnam-Gwangju companies proactively respond to European regulations and secure stable sales channels and local partners. By connecting one-time exports to repeat orders and long-term contracts, we will make a practical contribution to expanding companies’ exports to Europe.”

〈Profile of Director Kim Ki-cheol〉

After receiving a master’s degree in environmental engineering in Korea, Director Kim Ki-cheol moved to Germany in 2001 and earned a doctorate in business administration from the University of Lüneburg for research on sustainable management. After returning to Korea, he worked in sustainable management consulting at the Korea Sustainability Management Institute under the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and at Samjong KPMG, then moved back to Germany and handled technology commercialization and international cooperation at the Technology Management Team of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Europe and the Korea-EU Research and Business Cooperation Center. He has served as director since the establishment of the South Jeolla Province European Office in May 2012 (opened in June), and since the launch of Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City in July 2026, he has led the Integrated Special City European Office. As an overseas contributor to the Korea Agricultural Technology News, he writes a column series on trends in the European agtech and agri-food markets.
 

※ This interview was conducted by sending a questionnaire on August 26, 2026, and receiving written responses in September. The coordinates of Korean agri-food in the European market and the practical response to EU regulations were covered in [Special Report] Korean Agri-Food in the European Market Parts ① and ②.