FAQ
Based on the proposals received in 2025, the secretariat will select and conduct pre-consulting for the target projects. After completing the pre-consulting, the final list of supported projects will be determined by the end of the year. The services for the selected projects will then begin in the first quarter of 2026.
Yes. It is possible.
Eligible applicants for the smart city planning and smart solution planning projects are the foreign governments at the national/regional/city levels in charge of the smart city or smart solution development projects (hereinafter referred to as the “overseas partner governments”) or the international organizations who will collaborate with the overseas partner governments to execute the smart city or smart solution development projects.
There are no restrictions, but we recommend setting priorities for each country. *Each applicant can only apply for one project within their respective jurisdictional city.
Consulting will be carried out using the project budget, and invitation training and seminars will be provided for the relevant stakeholders of the supported projects. *Depending on the support scale, the partner country may partially cover the invitation costs, and online training may be substituted considering the circumstances of the partner country.
The K-City Network program provides customized consulting services for overseas cities through planning-based projects. This is not an ODA program and only supports planning and invitational training, not the execution of project. ＊Follow-up support for project implementation is planned through public projects, PPP projects, and private sector projects.
The criteria for selecting contractors and scope of tasks will be prepared with the government department that has applied, and will be open bidding within the Republic of Korea in accordance with these standards.
Consultation among the national and local governments, provision of relative project information, good communications for business cooperation, and etc. For more detail, please refer to the application form.
Forming a consortium with overseas partner governments(central and local governments only) is a prerequisite. Therefore, applications for verification with overseas private companies, universities, public institutions etc. without overseas partner organizations will be excluded from selection.
Foreign companies can also participate in forming a consortium, provided that overseas partner organizations are in the consortium. However, since the purpose of this project is to support domestic companies' overseas expansion, overseas partner organizations and overseas companies are not eligible for direct government subsidies.
Participating companies (institutions) other than the host organization are not required, so the host organization can apply alone under the premise of a consortium with an overseas partner organization.
<strong>The host organization (domestic company) can apply alone under the premise of forming a consortium with an overseas partner organization, and there are no restrictions on the company size of the host organization.</strong>
In the contest guidelines, applicants are specified as ‘domestic companies or organizations that have smart solutions developed and proven domestically and wish to expand overseas.’ Requirements such as membership in the Smart City Association or product registration are not specified.
It is also possible to apply for a business based on the performance of other organizations' projects.
The Lead organization should have the highest percentage of support fund and must be a domestic company that owns smart solutions and has either experience in or is preparing for overseas demonstration projects
The applicant organization must directly consult with government in the country subject to overseas verification. (MOLIT or KAIA does not separately recruit or designate verification countries in advance.)
There is no support for the applicant's application for the K-City Network overseas demonstration project, such as matching institutions or connecting with overseas cooperation institutions.
Overseas partner organizations are limited to central and local governments, and do not include public institutions or local public enterprises.
Cities intending to implement demonstration projects can apply as candidate cities even if conceptual designs or similar preparations are not yet in place, provided they are willing to adopt domestic smart solutions. Additionally, there are no extra points awarded for overseas cities with prepared pre-feasibility studies or conceptual designs.
The contest guidelines only specify overseas partner governments as central and local governments, but do not specify the size or level of recognition of the organizations.
There is no distinction between the two documents during screening, so the applicant organization can submit within the application period. Please select the document available.
Overseas partner governmentss are limited to central and local governments, so MOUs or LOIs with organizations other than government entities will be excluded from the selection process.
Only LOIs or MOUs directly signed between the lead organization and the overseas partner organization are acceptable. If a local company signs an agreement with the overseas partner organization but there is no LOI or MOU directly signed between the lead organization and the overseas partner organization, the application will be excluded from the selection process.
The application must be submitted along with the required documents, and only those submitted within the application period will be accepted.
The application period will not be extended, so submissions must be made within the designated period.
Please review whether overseas partner organizations can participate in the K-City Network project and whether matching funds and verification targets can be confirmed and sign an MOU/LOI with an overseas partner organization that can promote the project more effectively.
You can apply for a project even if you do not have any overseas smart city project results. However, domestic and overseas business performance is subject to qualitative evaluation during the written evaluation.
Smart solutions are proposed by the applicant and there is no separate list.
(The list in the contest guidelines is an example.)
If you believe it does not fall outside the category of 'smart solutions that can improve the quality of life of citizens and urban management efficiency' specified in the contest guidelines, you can freely apply regardless of the type of the solution.
There are no separate restrictions on one host organization making multiple public offering proposals.
There are no application restrictions for companies (institutions) that have carried out or are currently carrying out K-City Network overseas demonstration projects in the current public offering guidelines. However, please keep in mind that it is specified in the contest that demonstrating solutions that have already been demonstrated in the same demonstration country will be excluded from selection.(A solution previously demonstrated under the program can reapply if it shows clear differentiation from the existing solution or a potential for expanded capability such as its utilization in connection with the existing solution)
There are no restrictions on companies (institutions) that have carried out or are currently carrying out K-City Network overseas demonstration projects applying for other solutions in the same country. If you demonstrate your proven solution in another country, there are no application restrictions.
It is acceptable to reapply with previously submitted solutions and countries.
As specified in 'Target Solution' on page 2 of the contest guidelines, if it is a 'smart solution that can improve the quality of life of citizens and improve urban management efficiency', relevant performance certificates can be submitted without restrictions on the type of solution.
It is possible; however, for overseas projects, only those conducted within the last 10 years are eligible, and for domestic projects, only those conducted within the last 5 years are eligible.
Even if the distinction between personnel and material is unclear, it is impossible to recognize the performance of the applicant's affiliated companies as additional points if they are separated by corporate personality.
Rather than granting additional points for participation performance, additional points are recognized only in the case of follow-up verification of an MOU (LOI) officially signed at an event hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (WSCE, local road show, Korean pavilion at SCEWC in Barcelona, etc.). .
At the time of selection, the cost of overseas verification (3 million KRW to 4 million KRW per project) is supported to the selected domestic companies (including domestic companies formed in the consortium), and the cost is not directly supported to overseas partner governments or overseas companies.
Please refer to ‘Budget-related notes’ in the contest guidelines and ‘Notes'.
Labor costs can be calculated up to 40% of the government subsidy.
There are no separate restrictions on other expenses in the competition guidelines.
In-kind matching is possible, and there are no separate restrictions on the proportion of matching funds from companies or overseas partner governments.
It is not necessary for the matching amount and government support amount to be the same, but please note that additional points are given depending on the size of the matching amount during the selection evaluation
There is no obligation for matching funds from companies and overseas partner organizations, but there are additional points depending on the size of the matching funds.
This refers to the amount of matching funds from the domestic company (institution) that is the applicant.
This project is not an R&D project and therefore is not subject to R&D-related regulations.
The guidelines for the call for proposals state that "Lead organization should have the highest percentage of support fund." Therefore, the proportion of government funding for a participating organization cannot exceed that of the lead organization.
Overseas travel expenses for fieldwork, solution installation, and verification can also be accounted for as direct government subsidy expenses.
Since all application solutions and demonstration plans are reviewed fairly according to procedures, there is no country or service that has an advantage in selection.
If you have plans for expansion, regardless of whether it is a demonstration project site or to another region (country), please enter them in detail.
It is operated as a one-year project, and contracts for the projects selected this time will be signed from May to December of this year.
There is no mandatory local stay period during the business period.
This project is not an R&D project and therefore is not subject to R&D-related regulations.
Please refer to ‘Ownership of results and general information’ of the competition guidelines.
Since the applicant for this project is a domestic company(organization), all application documents must be completed in Korean.
There is no restriction.
The Lead Organization of the Consortium shall be a Korean organization or corporation, which has demonstration experience overseas, or is preparing for a demonstration outside Korea, and and other Korean organizations or corporations are able to participate under the lead organization’s responsibility.
The lead organization is required to form a consortium with an international partner organization which shall be an organization that carries out the demonstration on the ground (e.g., government, public organization, university) and has to submit the Letter of Intent or the Memorandum of Understanding. (If it is not submitted, the application will be excluded on the project selection process.)
An international parner organization shall be a government or a public organization, or an university, but not a private corporation. Thus, a participation commitment(MOU or LOI) signed by a foreign private corporation will be rejected.
Submission is not mandatory. However, specifying the relevant contents in the application or submitting the report itself will be helpful to understand the project for the evaluation process.
The amount of contract supporting each project is subject to change according to the selection results.
There will be additional points to be given in the case of corporate matching funds from Korean companies or international financing from the candidate country. Please refer to the Chapter Ⅲ. Evaluation Process and Selection Criteria described in the public notice.
The project expenses will be distributed directly to the lead organization (Korean company) of the consortium.
There is no limit to the solution area, but you can freely present the solution. However, it should be a solution that grafts smart city technology, platform, system, etc. to solve problems in the city alone or in package form.
When the solution project is carried out without setting a certain region at the national level, the purpose of smart city solutions cannot be fulfilled properly. Therefore, if possible, please provide the appropriate area for the solution to be applied.