Osceola County Launches Korea Push, Positions Itself as ‘U.S. Beachhead’ for Korean Industry

13-Member Trade Mission Wraps 6-Day Seoul Visit; SRS $53M HQ Deal, FKACC MOU Sealed

■ Full-spectrum agenda: KBIZ · Lotte · LG · KITA · MBC sequentially engaged
■ Off-program: dinner with Prof. Ko Sam-seog (former KCC commissioner) frames ‘co-evolution’ as the agenda’s undertone
■ KSEA UKC 2026 in Orlando flagged as the next inflection point; ‘K-Booth’ at MCO under review

▲ The 13-member ‘Osceola Chamber S. Korea Trade Mission (April 27 – May 2, 2026)’ delegation poses for a group photo at SRS headquarters in Seoul on April 30, immediately after the official signing of the development agreement between Osceola County and Smart Radar Systems (SRS)

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Florida’s Osceola County is mounting a full-court press to attract Korean advanced-technology firms to its shores. A 13-member economic mission led by Vice Mayor Cheryl Grieb spent six nights and seven days in Seoul (April 27 – May 2), engaging the entire spectrum of the Korean economy and capping its visit with a US$53 million (about ₩74 billion) U.S. headquarters investment deal with Korean autonomous-driving radar leader Smart Radar Systems (SRS, CEO Kim Yong-hwan). Vice Mayor Grieb personally executed the agreement.

미국 오세올라 카운티, 한국과 협업 확대 시동…엔터테인먼트·첨단산업·교육 교류 잇는 미국 진출 거점 부각지난 4월 말 플로리다 오세올라 카운티 방한. SRS 투자 유치와 FKACC·국내 주요 기관 네트워크 구축을 계기로, 관광·첨단산업·엔터테크·과학기술 협력을 아우르는 한국-플로리다 장기 협업 플랫폼 본격 가동K-EnterTech HubJung Han

Under the deal, SRS — through its U.S. subsidiary SRS.MOBILITY LLC — will build a four-story, 110,000-square-foot U.S. headquarters along Neovation Way inside the county’s ‘NeoCity’ technology park, combining 50,000 sq ft of office space with 60,000 sq ft of advanced radar assembly.

The project will create 190 jobs at an average wage of US$85,000 (approximately ₩120 million). Construction begins in January 2027 with completion targeted for October 2027. The county is conveying roughly 5.8 acres of pad-ready land at zero cost, and adding job-creation tax incentives of US$2,000–$3,000 per position.

On the same day in the same room, the Osceola Chamber and the Florida Korean American Chamber of Commerce (FKACC) signed a separate Memorandum of Understanding, formalizing institutional cooperation. The mission, headquartered at Signiel Seoul (Lotte World Tower), worked through a marathon of meetings: KBIZ (Korea Federation of SMEs), the Seoul Tourism Organization, the U.S. Embassy Commercial Service, Lotte Group, Inha University, the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), LG Science Park, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and MBC. Far from a one-off investment pitch, the visit was structured as a full-spectrum trade mission spanning industry, trade, tourism, education and media.

Off-program tracks proved equally noteworthy. Prof. Ko Sam-seog (高三錫) — Distinguished Professor at Dongguk University and former Korea Communications Commission (KCC) standing commissioner — joined the delegation’s dinner and seeded the discussion with his ‘co-evolution(共進化)’ framework for AI, content and global media networks. Discussions also touched on tying the visit into KSEA UKC 2026 (the U.S.–Korea Conference of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association), which Orlando will host in August, and a proposed ‘K-Content / K-Food / K-Pop booth’ at Orlando International Airport (MCO). The visit, in short, was the opening act of a long-form cooperation architecture that bundles investment, industry, tourism, education, media, entertainment and science-and-technology networks under a single arc.

Crucially, this deal was not a bolt-from-the-blue event. SRS.MOBILITY had already been designated as the Sole Source Provider of the county’s ‘advanced imaging-radar school-bus safety system’ in October 2025. The mission’s six-day Seoul itinerary marks the moment a parts-supply relationship escalated into a full headquarters commitment in just six months — explaining why the county dispatched both its Vice Mayor and the assistant superintendent of its school district to Seoul.

■ ‘All-Star’ Delegation: Government, Education, VC, Construction and Tourism in One Team

▸ Vice Mayor Grieb leads what amounts to a full-stack, ‘one-stop’ U.S. landing team for Korean firms

The most striking feature of this mission is the delegation itself. The lea

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고삼석 상임의장 · Chairman Samseog Ko

고삼석(Ko Samseog)은 K-EnterTech Forum 상임의장입니다. 동국대학교 첨단융합대학 석좌교수이자 국가인공지능전략위원회 분과위원으로, 30년 이상의 방송통신 정책 및 산업 경험을 바탕으로 K-콘텐츠와 글로벌 엔터테인먼트 기술의 융합을 선도하고 있습니다. 前 방송통신위원회 상임위원을 역임했으며, ZDNet Korea에 정기 칼럼을 연재 중입니다.
Samseog Ko is the founding Chairman (상임의장) of K-EnterTech Forum. He is a Distinguished Professor at Dongguk University and a member of Korea's National AI Strategy Committee. Former Commissioner of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).

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