3. Asia – Port of Incheon in South Korea
The Port of Incheon, located on the midwestern coast of the Korean Peninsula, is the second largest port in Korea. In 1883 the port opened for international trade. It has contributed greatly to the national economy and serves as a gateway to Seoul, the capital of Korea. It also functions as an industrial cluster in sectors such as steel, machinery, shipbuilding, automobile, electronics, petroleum, chemicals, textiles and metal processing. Electric railways and expressways are highly developed in the city to ensure convenient traffic.
As a gateway harbor near Seoul and the closest port to mainland China, it aims at becoming the largest port in Northeast Asia to better serve commodity distribution and manpower exchange. Its annual cargo handling capacity in 2011 was 140 million tons and 2 million TEU. A port commune was established in 2003 to further improve its operation standards and management efficiency.