Jung Ho-young, LGD President's Warning... "China's Pursuit Is Fierce, 'OLED Super-Gap' Is Urgent"

Emphasized in the Welcome Speech at the 13th Display Day

At the 13th Display Day event, Jeong Ho-young, Chairman of the Korea Display Industry Association and CEO of LG Display, delivers a welcoming speech. (Photo by Moon Chae-seok)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok]

"We must further strengthen our core technology capabilities in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) to widen the gap with emerging countries and expand our global No.1 position in OLED through the development of innovative technologies such as transparent OLED and flexible OLED."

On the 25th, according to the industry, Jung Ho-young, CEO of LG Display and chairman of the Korea Display Industry Association, recently emphasized the need to realize an 'OLED super-gap' amid fierce pursuit by major countries including China. This was stated in his welcoming speech at the '13th Display Day Ceremony' held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Chairman Jung identified three key tasks for strengthening Korea's display industry: ▲ overcoming the pursuit of major countries through OLED technological innovation ▲ enhancing supply chain stability in materials, parts, and equipment ▲ and the importance of nurturing talent. He said, "Since the pursuit by major overseas competitors is intense, continuous technological innovation is more important than anything else," adding, "We must further strengthen our core OLED technology capabilities to widen the gap with emerging countries and expand our global No.1 position in OLED through the development of innovative technologies such as transparent OLED and flexible OLED." He also assessed, "Furthermore, we must accelerate innovation in future display technologies and products such as AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), and holograms, and boldly pursue business innovation by leading the market through collaboration with various industries."

He also stressed the need to strengthen the overall fundamentals of the display industry through support for materials, parts, and equipment companies. Chairman Jung pointed out, "We must increase the added value of the entire industry and develop a stable growth structure," adding, "To this end, efforts to strengthen the technological capabilities of domestic materials, parts, and equipment companies and more active promotion of co-growth with panel companies must be pursued."

He emphasized the need to nurture convergence talents equipped with expertise required for core industrial technologies. Chairman Jung said, "Open and expansive collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutes is extremely important, and special attention and support from the government are also necessary," adding, "The role of systematically producing talents who possess not only expertise in core technologies but also convergence capabilities across various fields should be a shared responsibility of industry, academia, and research institutes."

Jang Young-jin, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, also pointed out the serious challenge posed by China in his congratulatory speech at the same event. He noted that the display industry faces both crisis and opportunity, with China’s pursuit being the most severe. Vice Minister Jang said, "The most urgent issue we see in the display industry is competition with China," adding, "China is no longer just our consumer market but has emerged as a competitor in all businesses."

Additionally, Vice Minister Jang emphasized the need to foster growth in services such as the metaverse and digital OTT. He also mentioned the necessity of designating the display industry as a 'national advanced strategic industry,' a long-standing wish of the display sector. Vice Minister Jang said, "The government plans to mobilize all available policy means under the goal of raising Korea’s market share from about 30% to around 50%," adding, "There is also the aspect of designating it as a national advanced strategic industry, which is a long-standing wish of the industry."