Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Vice Minister attends 1st General Assembly of SMR Alliance

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Namho Choe attended the first General Assembly of the SMR Alliance marking its one-year anniversary on July 3 at the Plaza Hotel Seoul, and gave a congratulatory message to 200 attendees, vowing that utmost priority will be placed on safety in invigorating the SMR industry, while also strongly supporting private sector’s flexible and efficient performance. date2024-07-04

SMR Alliance to push for incorporation into formal association in 2025

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Namho Choe attended the first General Assembly of the SMR Alliance marking its one-year anniversary on July 3 at the Plaza Hotel Seoul, where he shared the strategy for global SMR leadership.   MOTIE’s policy directions on building global SMR leadership includes the following key strategies: supporting the construction and operation of Korea’s unique i-SMRs; accelerating SMR-based private businesses; establishment of foundries; and maintenance of infrastructure. The ministry plans to nurture a KRW 80 billion policy funding necessary for the construction and management of the ongoing development of the first-of-a-kind SMR (i-SMR), establishment of a private-led corporation, backing related demonstration projects, and for investment in SMRs and nuclear power industries. It is anticipated that the expansion of SMRs will lead to more opportunities for private sector creativity in areas of project development and marketing across Korea’s nuclear power industry.   Meanwhile, the SMR Alliance’s 44 member companies announced the plan of incorporating the Alliance into a formal association with aim to better support its SMR project developments. As the 11th Basic Plan on Electricity Supply and Demand takes SMRs into consideration and conditions for commercialization have improved, member companies declared the vision to launch preparations this year to convert the SMR Alliance into a form of an association by H1 2025, which would enable the private sector to take the reins while serving as a communication channel with the Government authorities and lawmakers. date2024-07-03

MOTIE and MSIT launch Nano Korea 2024

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) are hosting the 22nd International Nano Tech Symposium and Exhibition (“Nano Korea 2024”) for three days starting July 3 at KINTEX in Ilsan.   One of the three largest global nanotechnology events, Nano Korea acts as a venue for exchanges and collaboration between nano convergence companies and researchers.   Samsung and LG are among this year’s 356 companies exhibiting various nanotechnology products at 661 booths, showcasing the transparent display demonstrated at CES 2024 among other technologies applied across various advanced industries. Visitors can check out promising future items like special eco-friendly materials and graphene-based nano materials. Buyer and supplier companies can also engage in one-on-one business matching.   Experts from 28 different countries are gathering at Nano Korea 2024 to give professional lectures on 16 areas, including materials for extreme conditions, energy, and bio. At the opening ceremony, contributors to the development of the nanotechnology industry and R&D innovations are awarded Prime Minister’s Awards and Minister’s Awards from MOTIE and MSIT.   Those wanting to participate in Nano Korea 2024 can either pre-register or register onsite (https://nanokorea.or.kr). date2024-07-03

Vice Minister chairs 2nd K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Tech Alliance

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Kang Kyungsung chaired the second K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Tech Alliance meeting on July 2 at Panasia, an eco-friendly ship materials and equipment producer, where he announced the K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Vision 2040 and signed the MOU with three major Korean shipyards for joint R&D cooperation and discussed measures for enhancing future shipbuilding competitiveness.   The meeting was attended by representatives of related companies and institutions, including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology and Korea Marine Equipment Research Institute. date2024-07-02

Vice Minister visits Panasia

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Kang Kyungsung visited Panasia, an eco-friendly ship materials and equipment producer, on July 2 in Busan announcing the K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Vision 2040 and inspected the company’s industrial site safety. date2024-07-02

Vice Minister visits Hanwha Ocean shipyard

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Kang Kyungsung visited Hanwha Ocean on July 2 in Gyeongnam on announcing the K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Vision 2040 and received a briefing from Hanwha Ocean CEO Kwon Hyuk-woong and toured the company's smart shipyard.   date2024-07-02

MOTIE announces K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Vision 2040

Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Kang Kyungsung attended the second K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Tech Alliance on July 2 at Panasia, an eco-friendly ship materials and equipment producer, where he announced the K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Vision 2040.   Over the past six months, the Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) of Korea’s three major shipyards have worked in tandem with roughly 100 experts in related academia, industries, and research institutions, to establish the public-private joint roadmap for shipbuilding industry’s technological development, namely the K-Shipbuilding Super Gap Vision (“the roadmap”).   The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) selected 100 core technologies (351 subtechnologies) considered essential for Korea’s shipbuilding industry to secure and develop in green, digital, and smart areas.   First, for eco-friendly, the roadmap aims to develop eco-friendly fuel propulsion, materials and equipment for green innovation, and offshore hydrogen and ammonia plant technologies with the goal of completing the zero-carbon emission shipyard technology portfolio by 2040. Moreover, focus will go towards securing foundational technologies for LNG carrier cargo, large-sized electric propulsion ships, and offshore demonstrations.   Second, for digital, MOTIE aims to secure automation across all stages from design to production to shipyard management with the goal of reaching 50 percent process automation by 2040. Priority is on developing technologies for automating high-risk, high-difficulty tasks like welding and vessel painting automation, as well as cooperative robot technologies. In the mid-to-long term, the ministry plans to secure 24-hour automated ship block construction technology and push for the establishment of a testbed.   Lastly, MOTIE will secure smart technologies necessary for the commercialization of fully autonomous vessels, including those related to sensors, materials and equipment, and integrated management systems. Simultaneously, efforts will be made to secure safety technology for preparation against emergencies and technologies enabling human-robot collaboration in place of crew services.   In these three areas (green, digital, smart), MOTIE proposed 10 flagship projects for developing super gap technologies. Prospective projects include ammonia propulsion ships, liquid hydrogen carriers, carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems, self-navigation platforms, and autonomous manufacturing processes, which will receive support for innovative technology development, demonstration for securing track record, and standardization, so as to intensively nurture the shipbuilding industry as the next growth engine. To this end, a public-private joint team will invest a minimum of approximately USD 1.4 billion (2 tln won) over the next decade for accomplishing the 10 projects.   The Korean government and the three major domestic shipyards shared the understanding that it is imperative to resolve site issues to improve productivity, entering a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for developing several site response technologies in the following areas: collaborative robotic welding; virtual reality (VR) education system for welding and painting; artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for foreign manpower site support; and shipyard-contractor joint production platform development. date2024-07-02

Government holds 6th National Strategic High-Tech Industries Committee meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that the Korean government held the sixth National Strategic High-Tech Industries Committee meeting on June 27 and led the deliberation and resolution on plans for designations of national strategic high-tech industries for bio, as well as the new designation and alterations regarding national strategic advanced technologies.   The Government announced that, as a result of evaluations conducted on the eleven regions that have applied for the bio specialization complex (period of public notice: December 2023–February 2024) in terms of anchor companies, investment scale, industry ecosystem potential, regional balanced development, and such criteria, the following five regions have been designated as Korea’s national strategic high-tech bio specialization complexes: Incheon/Gyeonggi (Siheung), Daejeon (Yuseong), Gangwon (Chuncheon, Hongcheon), Jeonnam (Hwasoon), and Gyeongbuk (Andong, Pohang).   Under the National High-Tech Strategic Industry Act, the above bio specialization complexes will be provided assistance similar to what the specialization complexes received after designation in July 2023, including “time-out” for swift licensing, deregulation, tax and budget support, easing of floor area ratio (FAR) cap, power and water and such basic infrastructure, as well as pan-ministerial support for management and nurturing of the specialization complexes. The detailed plan for tailored development of each bio specialization complex will be established in the second half of this year.   Moreover, the Government will be further designating new technologies as “national high-tech strategic technologies” in addition to the 17 technologies of the semiconductor, displays, secondary battery, and bio sectors designated in May 2023. The new and upcoming designation will take the rapidly changing advanced industries’ competitive environment into consideration and factor in technological innovations around the world.   In accordance with the first basic plan on nurturing and protecting National High-Tech Strategic Industries and the action plan for 2024, future mobility, robots, nuclear power, and defense are some of the industries under review for designation as national high-tech strategic industries. Furthermore, the Government will review whether there exist additional technologies eligible for designation as national high-tech strategic technologies in the initially designated four industries (semiconductor, display, secondary battery, bio).   The Government plans to begin conducting surveys on the relevant industries beginning this July, which will be followed by the National Strategic High-Tech Industries Committee’s deliberation process for additional designations. date2024-06-28

Korea-U.S. global standards cooperation picks up pace in advanced industries

Korea Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held the Korea-U.S. Standards Cooperation Forum 2024 on June 28 at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. with the attendance of approximately 70 experts of both countries, including representatives from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Intel, and IBM.   The Korea-U.S. Standards Cooperation Forum 2024 held in-depth discussions on the two countries’ joint progress in standards development in five advanced technology areas, namely semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), future mobility, quantum technology, and carbon neutrality/clean energy, with the addition of “digital ID” as a sixth new area, with participants agreeing to propose five new international standards for semiconductors, quantum technology, and solar cells and to launch a new global standards project in bio-semiconductor development.   On June 27, KATS and NIST sealed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for supporting the two countries’ intergovernmental standards cooperation in facilitating joint efforts and information sharing of international and regional standards organizations, as a follow-up to the Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral summit held at Camp David last August. On the same day, KATS also held a regular bilateral meeting to discuss measures for private sector collaboration, such as the sharing of advanced technology standards strategies and promoting standards talent exchanges. date2024-06-28

Korea-U.S. Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue (SCCD) Semiconductor Forum

Trade, Industry, and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn attended the Korea-U.S. Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue (SCCD) Semiconductor Forum and MOU signing between Korea-U.S. semiconductor associations on June 27 in Washington D.C.   The Forum was attended by approximately 60 persons, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Korea Planning & Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) President Jeon Yoon-jong, Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) Vice Chairman Kim Jeong-hoi, and Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) President and CEO John Neuffer. date2024-06-28