Semiconductor, Battery, and Display 'Super-Gap' Maintained... 160 Trillion Won Investment Over 5 Years

Government to Announce R&D Strategy at Emergency Economic Meeting on the Morning of the 6th

South Korea will invest a total of 160 trillion won in research and development (R&D) over the next five years to secure ultra-gap technologies in three major sectors: semiconductors, displays, and next-generation batteries.

On the morning of the 6th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the "Ultra-Gap R&D Strategy for Three Major Key Technologies" at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting. As global competition for technological supremacy and protectionism intensify, South Korea is responding by selecting and supporting 12 national strategic technologies. In particular, since last year, the government has been operating a task force composed of industry, academia, and research experts in the three major key technology fields?semiconductors, displays, and next-generation batteries?to prepare the ultra-gap R&D strategy.

First, the government will invest 160 trillion won in public and private R&D funds from this year through 2027 to secure ultra-gap technologies and create new markets in the three major key technology sectors. Specifically, in semiconductors, a total of 45 technologies across three areas?devices, design, and processes?will be supported; in displays, 28 technologies will be focused on, including hyper-realistic, next-generation free-form, and convergence technologies; and in next-generation batteries, 27 technologies will be selected for key support in secondary batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, and isotope batteries.

Alongside this, the government will nurture high-level personnel such as master's and doctoral graduates and specialized experts to ensure timely entry into the private sector. New and expanded projects to establish university research hubs for each of the three major key technology fields will be launched, and practical professional workforce training will be actively supported through systems such as contract quotas, contract departments, and new major tracks to enable immediate deployment in the field.

A "Public-Private Research Council," composed of experts and organizations from industry, academia, and research institutes as well as relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which support R&D in the three major key technology sectors, will be formed within this year. This council will seamlessly coordinate all stages from R&D project planning to sharing and utilizing research outcomes.

Efforts will also be made to build researcher-centered infrastructure and promote international cooperation. The government will push forward the establishment of a specialized open fab (Open Fab) centered on researchers that can produce prototypes based on new materials and structures related to semiconductors. Customized research infrastructure for displays and next-generation batteries will be developed, and the roles between existing fabs such as the Nano Comprehensive Technology Institute (Si CMOS process) and the Korea Nano Technology Institute (compound process) will be clarified and their cooperation strengthened. To jointly solve core technological challenges, international cooperation will be enhanced through researcher forums and joint R&D projects with the United States, the European Union (EU), and others.

Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT, stated, "The fields of semiconductors, displays, and next-generation batteries have been cornerstone technologies that have strongly supported our economy based on outstanding private sector capabilities. Going forward, we will strengthen R&D investment through public-private collaboration to secure world-class ultra-gap technologies in these three major key technology sectors, which operate under a winner-takes-all structure."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.