South Korea has been chosen to build a smart city infrastructure in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, becoming the first partnering country for the smart city network project initiated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) was launched at the 32nd ASEAN Summit in July with an aim to create a cooperative platform where cities work towards the common goal of smart and sustainable urban development. A total of 26 pilot cities were nominated by the respective ASEAN member states that have teamed up with non-ASEAN partners such as Korea.

For the Kota Kinabalu project, the Korean government signed a letter of intent with Malaysia in September, and upon approval of the related budget bill at the Malaysian Parliament, the two will sign a memorandum of understanding.

Korea aims to upgrade the Southeast Asian city using its advanced information & communication technologies (ICT) including a smart gate system. Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH), Korea Water Resources Corp. and Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corp. will join the city development project.

Kota Kinabalu with a population of about 450,000 is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea.

By Park Yong-beom and Lee Ha-yeon

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