Seoul unveils new economic blueprint for 'super-innovation,' eyeing 'Korea Premium'

Staying with South Korea's growth strategy.

Our Moon Ji-young now delves into details of this development plan for some of the key industries.

"We will select 30 leading projects in AI-driven transformations and the super-innovation economy, and immediately begin preparations starting from the second half of this year."

These pivotal technology-driven initiatives directly propel South Korea's ambitions for technology-led growth.

Central to this vision of a super-innovation economy is a concentrated effort in advanced materials and components.

A key focus is on silicon carbide semiconductors.

Currently heavily reliant on imports, the Korean government has set ambitious targets for SiC power semiconductors.

It aims to raise self-sufficiency from 10-percent to 20-percent and increase domestic production from below 5 percent to 10-percent by 2030.

Beyond these, Korea is also pushing for the localization of LNG cargo tank technology,

a critical component of LNG carriers that currently account for over half of shipbuilding revenue, with about 5-percent of the vessel cost being paid to overseas companies as technology fees.

Significant efforts are also to be directed towards climate change and future energy response.

These include securing core technologies for next-generation solar cells and promoting solar glass.

Regarding small modular reactors, technology development projects are underway to obtain standard design approvals by 2028.

Harnessing the global success of the Korean Wave, the government is intensifying support for K-Wave industries across the bio, content, beauty and food sectors.

For K-Content, including games and webtoons, AI integration will span the entire cycle from planning to distribution to boost exports from 13-point-2 billion US dollars in 2022 to 25 billion dollars by 2030.

In the beauty industry, which ranked third globally in exports last year, the goal is to cultivate one customized K-Beauty integrated cluster to propel it to become one of the top two global leaders.

The government is poised to fundamentally redirect capital flows, which have been overly concentrated in real estate, towards productive sectors like corporate investment.

This move aims to address the chronic undervaluation of the domestic stock market that has resulted in the "Korea Premium."

The government has also unveiled measures to strengthen the livelihoods of small businesses and the self-employed.

Moon Ji-young. Arirang News.