Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Deputy Minister for Trade Yang Byeong-nae met with Derek Johnson, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Solid Power, on January 18 at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) to discuss measures for cooperation in next-generation battery areas.

Solid Power is a U.S.-based firm known for its leading all-solid-state battery technology that has recently entered memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with a number of Korea’s private companies and public institutions like SK On, Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) with aim to expand R&D collaboration.

Acknowledging that all-solid-state batteries' low fire risk and high energy density position them as promising next-generation batteries, MOTIE plans to pour KRW 117.2 billion won by 2028 into the “Green Mobility High-Performance Next-Generation Secondary Battery Technology Development Project” that passed the prefeasibility study in November 2023 to seriously push forward technology development in next-generation batteries.

Deputy Minister Yang received a briefing on Solid Power’s technology advancements and cooperation progress with Korea and introduced the Korean government’s investment tax credit and other policies for supporting foreign-invested companies in advanced industries, and encouraged a favorable stance towards investment in Korea with respect to its leadership in secondary batteries.

The deputy trade minister stated that “catalyzed by the state visit in April 2023, Korea and the U.S. are engaging in active bilateral cooperation in advanced industries,” and emphasized that the ministry will give full measure to support the two countries' cooperation in private-sector next-generation batteries and other cutting-edge areas.