Government Holds First SoBuJang Competitiveness Committee Meeting This Year
Space Aviation, Defense, and Hydrogen Added to Core SoBuJang Strategic Technologies
The government will invest 506.7 billion KRW over five years in specialized complexes for materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) to foster technological innovation and develop them into key hubs of the supply chain. Additionally, the core strategic technologies for SoBuJang will be expanded from the existing 150 to 200 by newly adding the aerospace, defense, and hydrogen sectors.
On the 3rd, the government held the first SoBuJang Competitiveness Enhancement Committee meeting of the year at the Government Seoul Office, where it reviewed and approved seven agenda items, including the "Customized Support Plan for SoBuJang Specialized Complexes."
For each specialized complex, the Chungbuk Bio Specialized Complex will support joint research and development (R&D) between demand and supply companies for bio SoBuJang such as bio media, which currently have high overseas dependence. It will also establish a Bio Pharmaceutical Materials and Parts Demonstration Support Center to provide comprehensive support for globally certified testing and analysis, including by the US FDA and EU EMA.
In the case of the Daegu Motor Specialized Complex, R&D will be conducted for a rare-earth permanent magnet recycling production system for electric vehicles, along with the establishment of a "Motor Performance Certification Support Center." The Gwangju Autonomous Driving Specialized Complex will develop an integrated control system for autonomous vehicle perception, control, and communication, and build international certification and reliability equipment linked with driving simulators.
For the Busan Power Semiconductor Specialized Complex, an 8-inch SiC power semiconductor manufacturing and packaging center will be established, and technology development will proceed for devices such as 1700V-class high-voltage power semiconductors. The Anseong Semiconductor Equipment Specialized Complex will focus investment on developing core technologies for CMP equipment, a semiconductor polishing tool.
The government plans to simultaneously promote workforce training and regulatory improvements for each specialized complex.
The Anseong Specialized Complex will establish a semiconductor equipment demonstration center within Polytech University, and a mobility university will be founded in the Daegu Specialized Complex. The Gwangju Specialized Complex will pursue designation as an autonomous driving pilot operation zone, and the Osong Specialized Complex will operate a support group where resident companies and regulatory agencies cooperate to improve regulations and provide licensing consulting from the R&D stage.
The government plans to support a total of 506.7 billion KRW over five years, including 231.8 billion KRW for SoBuJang specialized complex R&D, to back 6.7 trillion KRW in investments by companies in these complexes. Furthermore, it will support technological innovation and production expansion in the complexes through dedicated fund investments, the establishment of specialized technology support tracks at 37 public research institutes, and preferential export support programs for resident companies.
On the same day, the government also approved a reorganization plan to expand the core strategic technologies for SoBuJang from 150 to 200. In addition to the existing seven fields such as semiconductors, displays, and bio, three new fields?space and aviation (20 technologies), defense (2 technologies), and hydrogen (18 technologies)?were added, designating 40 new technologies.
Bio materials, parts, and equipment technologies were also expanded from five to 19 by adding technologies such as active pharmaceutical ingredients, functional materials, and ultra-fast, large-scale production process equipment.
The government approved seven SoBuJang cooperation and win-win models and decided to provide approximately 100 billion KRW in support over five years. For the first time this year, two global cooperation models between overseas demand companies and domestic SoBuJang companies were approved. Accordingly, cooperation will proceed with a German company on vehicle communication and security system semiconductors, and with a US company on biodegradable synthetic fiber materials.
The government also approved the "Selection Plan for 185 SoBuJang Supply Chain Stability Items" announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy last December in the 3050 Industrial Supply Chain Strategy, the "Strategy for Establishing a Material Research Data Utilization Ecosystem" to promote digitalization of material development, and the "Bio SoBuJang Technology Development Roadmap."
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