Hwang's Law

Korea hones in on growth engines

March 22, 2011

The government and private sector is planning to invest 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) to secure new growth businesses in such areas as transparent flexible displays.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced six high-potential business areas it will invest in over the next five to seven years.

The list includes transparent flexible displays and related application products; neuro tools, which converge information and technology with neurology and nerve medical services; compact multipurpose module nuclear reactors; offshore plants to industrialize deep-sea resources; super-fine print electronics manufacturing systems designed to make flexible circuit boards for solar cells and multifunctional graphene materials; and components used in next-generation semiconductors and display panels.

The Economy Ministry said it expects 380 trillion won ($338 billion) in revenue to be generated from the fields in 2025. This is nearly equivalent to one third of Korea’s 2010 GDP.

Additionally, the government hopes development of such cutting-edge technology leads to the creation of 400,000 jobs and exports worth $240 billion, which is nearly half of last year’s exports.

Choi Joong-kyung, Knowledge Economy minister, said that now is an important time to make consistent efforts to produce practical results.

“To create jobs, improve people’s quality of life - including safety, health and countering the energy crisis - research and development in the knowledge economy, which has a close connection to the public’s life, should be approached preemptively and aggressively,” Choi said.

The minister added that stronger cooperation between conglomerates and small companies was part of the selection process.

“Between 1992 and 2002, the Korean government led a project to become one of the top seven countries in technology,” said Hwang Chang-gyu, who leads the Economy Ministry’s strategy and planning team, which launched in March 2010.

“As a result, five areas, including memory chips, now rank first in the global market.”

Hwang said the government now hopes to become one of the top five countries in cutting-edge technology.

The government a year ago recruited Hwang, former Samsung Electronics president and chief technical officer, to head its strategy planning team to enhance government-led research in cutting-edge technology fields.

This was the first time the strategy and planning team and the ministry held such a meeting.


Hwang's Law: The density of the top-of-the-line flash memory chips will double every 12 months.

Ted