The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's R&D in 2025 will reach a record-breaking scale of 5.7 trillion won, and will begin rapid execution starting in January next year.

On the 23rd, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the integrated implementation plan for the 2025 Industrial Technology Innovation Project and disclosed the support content, target, procedure, schedule, etc. of the industrial and energy sector R&D projects to be supported in 2025.

In 2025, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will support R&D with a total of 5.7 trillion won, the largest amount ever.

The projects announced in the implementation plan this time are 218 projects, excluding projects supported through loans (KRW 120 billion), and the total scale is KRW 5.6 trillion.

By sector, support will be provided for the following: △Semiconductors, secondary batteries, displays, bio, future cars, and next-generation robots, a 158.1 billion won (14.4%) increase to KRW 1.2565 trillion for six cutting-edge strategic industries; △Super-gap technologies for stabilizing the supply chain for economic security, a 83.8 billion won (4.8%) increase to KRW 1.8158 trillion; △AI, digital, and eco-friendly transition, a 118.8 billion won (21.9%) increase to KRW 660.2 billion; and △Training excellent human resources, a 29.7 billion won (12.9%) increase to KRW 259.1 billion.

Next year, there are approximately 1,400 new projects worth a total of 870 billion won, of which more than 70% will be invested in ultra-gap projects.

Starting this year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has established a detailed investment roadmap by selecting 45 projects and tasks to be achieved in 11 industrial sectors in order to increase the strategic nature of investment, and is giving priority to investments in projects and tasks included in it. Representative investments include advanced semiconductor packaging for overcoming miniaturization limits (KRW 17.8 billion), next-generation inorganic light-emitting displays (KRW 18 billion), all-solid-state batteries for wearable devices (KRW 5 billion), rapid wireless charging of lithium-ion batteries within 8 minutes (KRW 4 billion), establishment of bio-foundry infrastructure (KRW 5.2 billion), on-device AI semiconductors (KRW 4.3 billion), the world's best autonomous vehicle AI accelerator semiconductors (KRW 4.3 billion), communication semiconductors (KRW 4.6 billion), and soft robotics that operate similarly to the human body (KRW 3.2 billion).

The plan is to select 85% of new projects in the first half of 2025, announce projects starting in January, and sign agreements with research institutions starting in April. Some projects, such as bio, robots, automobiles, and shipbuilding and marine, will be announced twice to reflect on-site demand.

In addition, for approximately 4,500 ongoing projects, we will swiftly carry out intermediate inspection procedures such as progress checks and stage evaluations, and, if necessary, agreement change procedures to adjust technology development goals and directions. We aim to complete the procedures necessary for budget execution by February so that companies and researchers participating in technology development can focus on their research.

Specific business outlines, schedules, and other project-specific information on the 2025 Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy R&D projects can be found in the 2025 Integrated Implementation Plan for Industrial Technology Innovation Projects, which will be announced on December 23, 2024 on the websites of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (www.KIAT.or.kr), the Korea Institute of Technology Planning and Evaluation (www.KEIT.re.kr), and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (www.KETEP.re.kr), as well as other specialized organizations in each field.