[Advanced Industry Promotion] Establishing the Foundation for Securing Super-Gap Technology: Creating the 'Korean IMEC'

Announcement of Six Major Tasks for National Advanced Industry Development Strategy

The government will introduce a ‘Korean-style IMEC’ where global talents gather to research, educate, and demonstrate advanced technologies to foster national cutting-edge industries. IMEC is a semiconductor research and workforce training center located in Belgium, involving experts from academia, industry, and research institutes across 96 countries. Starting with semiconductors, the government plans to concretize the IMEC model in advanced fields such as secondary batteries and biotechnology.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held the 14th Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting on the 15th to discuss the agenda of the ‘National Cutting-edge Industry Development Strategy.’ Through this discussion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy committed to securing leadership in advanced industries, which serve as growth engines for the nation and companies and are strategic assets for economic security.

To this end, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the core tasks of the national cutting-edge industry development strategy. Specifically, the six tasks are ▲securing super-gap technological capabilities ▲nurturing innovative talents ▲regional specialized clusters ▲building a robust ecosystem ▲becoming a top investment country ▲and strengthening trade capabilities.

To ‘secure super-gap technological capabilities,’ the government will leverage Korea’s strength in manufacturing capabilities to create a Korean-style IMEC where global talents gather to research, educate, and demonstrate advanced technologies. IMEC is a semiconductor research and workforce training center located in Belgium, involving experts from academia, industry, and research institutes across 96 countries. Starting with semiconductors, the plan is to expand IMEC to advanced fields such as secondary batteries and biotechnology. Additionally, a total of 25 trillion won will be invested over the next five years in research and development (R&D) of 12 strategic technologies including quantum and artificial intelligence (AI).

To ‘nurture innovative talents,’ the government will discuss creating programs that select outstanding science and engineering talents and support overseas training. Various incentive expansion plans to attract foreign talents will be developed in collaboration with the industry. Also, the ‘Special Act on Industrial Workforce Innovation’ will be enacted this year to promote industry-academia cooperation and attract outstanding talents.

To foster ‘regional specialized clusters’ that cultivate advanced industries locally, new national cutting-edge strategic industry and materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) specialized complexes will be designated within this year. The national cutting-edge strategic industry specialized complexes aim to create a foundation for advanced industry growth through innovation ecosystems. The SoBuJang specialized complexes aim to strengthen the competitiveness of the materials, parts, and equipment industry by achieving technological self-reliance and establishing corporate cooperation systems.

To ‘build a robust ecosystem,’ the government will promote the Mother Factory strategy. The Mother Factory, a core production facility equipped with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, will be established domestically, while mass production plants will be set up overseas to target local markets. The ‘Industrial Supply Chain 3050’ strategy will also be established to expand domestic production of key materials, parts, and equipment and reduce dependence on specific countries.

To realize a ‘top investment country,’ the government will increase investment tax credit rates. Support will also be provided for essential infrastructure such as power and water supply. Additionally, global standard principles and an approval timeout system will be introduced to lower regulations and permit systems that hinder corporate investment to the level of competing countries. The establishment of a ‘National Investment Holding Company’ to carry out mid- to long-term strategic investments domestically and internationally is also under consideration.

‘Strengthening trade capabilities’ is also essential. Through frameworks such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), cooperation channels with friendly countries will be established to lead the setting of global norms. In response to protectionist moves like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), negotiations will be conducted with major companies and experts from academia, the legal sector, and research communities aiming to maximize benefits for domestic industries. Furthermore, the Industrial Technology Protection Act will be amended to prevent the leakage of advanced technologies.