Ulsanruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Automotive
Hyundai Motor Ulsan plant and roughly 700 auto-related suppliers
The Ulsan complex is the largest single automobile plant in the world — five factories on one site with its own pier — producing on the order of 1.5 million vehicles a year with a workforce in the tens of thousands. A dedicated EV plant on the site broke ground in November 2023 for around ₩2 trillion with mass production planned from early 2026, though reporting in 2026 indicates the planned capacity has since been cut substantially as EV demand softened.
Shipbuilding & offshore
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Mipo, the Dong-gu supplier belt
The Dong-gu yard is one of the largest shipbuilding sites anywhere, and the district's economy, housing and hiring all move with its order book. Work is heavily cyclical and a large share of the on-site workforce is subcontracted, which is worth understanding before signing anything.
Refining & petrochemicals
SK Energy, S-Oil at Onsan, Lotte Chemical, Kumho Petrochemical, the Ulsan Mipo and Onsan national industrial complexes
Ulsan holds the country's largest refining and petrochemical concentration, which is the third leg of the local economy and the biggest single reason the region's output per head is what it is. It is also the source of the air-quality and odour questions worth asking before choosing a neighbourhood.
Non-ferrous metals
Korea Zinc and the Onsan smelting cluster
The Onsan complex holds one of the world's largest zinc smelting operations alongside a wider non-ferrous metals cluster. It is a specialist, capital-intensive sector with a small but well-paid technical job market and a long history of local environmental scrutiny.
Hydrogen & energy transition
The city's hydrogen programme, floating offshore wind consortia off the Ulsan coast, industrial hydrogen users
Ulsan has positioned itself as Korea's hydrogen city — by-product hydrogen from the petrochemical complex, a hydrogen tram planned for the first urban rail line, and large floating offshore wind projects proposed off the coast. Several of these are still at consortium and permitting stage, so treat announced capacities and dates as intentions.
Universities & research
UNIST, University of Ulsan and its medical school, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology's Ulsan centres
UNIST is one of the four national science and technology institutes, opened in 2009, with a graduate-heavy and largely English-language research culture — the main non-industrial route into the city for foreign professionals. The University of Ulsan is closely tied to the Hyundai group and runs the region's main teaching hospital.
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