The government said Friday it will designate three cities as the nation's first hydrogen-specialized complexes and support their growth into hydrogen industry hubs.

The designation comes after the three cities -- Donghae and Samcheok of Gangwon Province and Pohang of North Gyeongsang Province -- passed preliminary feasibility surveys to carry out hydrogen cluster projects, the government said following a meeting of the government-led Hydrogen Economy Committee.

The Donghae-Samcheok project will see the investment of 317.7 billion won ($231 million) between 2024 and 2028 in building a hydrogen storage and shipment cluster, including space to host 63 hydrogen-related companies in Donghae and the construction of a hydrogen liquefaction plant in Samcheok.

The Pohang project will see the investment of 191.8 billion won over the same period in building a hydrogen fuel cell generation cluster.

"Hydrogen is a carbon-free energy source recognized as a key carbon reduction measure during COP28, and a promising future industry whose global market value is expected to reach trillions of dollars in 2050," Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during the meeting, referring to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

"The government will speedily push the policies decided by the committee and focus our policy capabilities on building a domestic hydrogen industry ecosystem and leading the global hydrogen economy," he added.(Yonhap)