The time has come to look beyond 5G to 6G. 6G is expected to be commercialized in 2030, and attention is focused on technology development and market dominance worldwide.

At a time when market dominance is considered important, a public hearing on the 6G industrial technology development project was held to provide a forum for discussion. It was agreed that close cooperation between industry, academia, and research is important for Korea to dominate 6G technology development and standards and realize a digital infrastructure powerhouse through commercialization.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) held a public hearing on the 6G industrial technology development (R&D) plan on the 25th. At the public hearing, future directions were discussed based on presentations for each of the six fields, and after the panel discussion, a Q&A session was held while discussing together.

Based on the opinions of this public hearing, the Ministry of Science and ICT will apply for a public contest to select projects for preliminary feasibility study in September of this year. The 6G industrial technology development feasibility study period is 7 years from 2024 to 2030, and is worth approximately 900 billion won.

The 6G industrial technology development project is planned with 17 strategic technologies in 6 fields: △6G wireless communication △6G wireless communication components △6G mobile core network △6G wired network △6G system △6G infrastructure development.

Kim Jeong-sam, director of the Ministry of Science and ICT's Information Security Network Policy Bureau, argued that in 6G development, Korea must expand its investment to take the lead globally with a smaller investment scale compared to its competitors.

In his announcement, Policy Director Kim asserted that the development of the upper-mid band (7–24 GHz) that provides high speeds and wide coverage as a candidate frequency band for 6G is noteworthy. Based on the fact that the 5G market has grown centered on the 3.5 GHz band, the opinion is that 6G should also consider mid-band frequencies, taking into account issues such as coverage.

He added that it is necessary to respond to the acceleration of softwareization and cloudization of networks, such as commercialization of Open RAN. He said that new business development is necessary to lead the 6G technology standard market, including development of SW and cloud-based AI technology.

In the discussion and Q&A session following the presentation, LG Electronics Research Fellow Jeong Jae-hoon said, “Standardization is the foundation that enables various attempts in the early and mid-term stages of determining direction,” and LG will also take the lead in national technological leadership.

SKT Group Director Park Jong-kwan said, “Even if technology is developed to make 6G as fast as 5G, it is useless if customers cannot feel it,” and insisted, “A service ecosystem that can change customer experience through the frequencies we have secured is also important.”

Professor Jang Kyung-hee of Inha University added, “We need activities such as showcases that attempt innovation and show various possibilities,” and “Rather than maintaining it from the early stages of technology development and waiting for service, we need to provide an experience with the service.”
Team leader Shim Gyu-yeol of the Ministry of Science and ICT said, “Let’s not stop at technological development when doing business, but lead the 6G era by combining many industries, academia, and research institutes to create synergy,” and added that a promotion system is needed in which large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and mid-sized companies discuss and cooperate together through open collaboration.

Team Leader Shim also argued that it is necessary to supplement the strategic response that was not possible during the 5G era, and that it is no longer meaningful to explain 6G to customers in terms of speed, and that new methods should be considered to explain the direction of 6G.

Finally, the government's digitalHe said that in order to attract 5G and 6G talents, including the training of 1 million new employees, industry, academia, and research institutes should work together to lead the global market and create a visionary environment.

This public hearing is seen as meaningful as a place to strengthen the resolve of academia, industry, and research and discuss the direction. In order to realize a global digital infrastructure powerhouse in the future, the steps taken by industry, academia, and research are expected in the development and standardization of 6G technology, and further in commercialization.