Korea broke ground Thursday on a 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) offshore wind farm, launching an ambitious effort to build a massive renewable energy sector funded entirely by domestic capital. The 390-megawatt Shinan Ui project, located off the coast of Sinan County in the country's southwestern South Jeolla Province, represents a strategic shift for East Asia's green transition. While major maritime wind developments in the region have historically relied on foreign technology and international finance, Korea is attempting to build this project using a homegrown financial coalition and a domestic industrial supply chain. "This is the first large-scale offshore wind project driven entirely by domestic capital," Minister of Climate, Energy, and Environment Kim Sung-hwan said during the groundbreaking ceremony. "It is a critical step forward in securing the clean energy needed for our digital future, while simultaneously strengthening our domestic industrial ecosystem." To finance the massive upfront costs, the project was selected as the inaugural investment of the state-backed National