In an era of technological hegemony competition where cutting-edge technologies create future food, the Yoon administration has announced 12 national strategic technologies and set forth a vision to secure Korea's technological sovereignty.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 28th that it had announced the 'National Strategic Technology Promotion Plan' at the plenary meeting of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council held at the Presidential Office in Yongsan and chaired by President Yoon Seok-yeol.

This meeting, held after the launch of the government, was attended by President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is the chairman, newly appointed Vice Chairman Lee Woo-il, and 19 first-term civilian members, as well as the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (minister), the head of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters, the Vice Minister of Education, the Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs, and the Secretary to the President for Science and Technology.

The 'National Strategic Technology Development Plan' is a joint government-wide strategy and policy direction for developing nationally-led strategic technologies.

The fields selected as the 12 national strategic technologies are: △Semiconductors and displays △Secondary batteries △Advanced mobility △Next-generation nuclear power △Advanced bio △Aerospace and marine △Hydrogen △Cybersecurity △AI △Next-generation communications △Advanced robots and manufacturing △Quantum, etc. The 12 technologies were selected based on their strategic importance in areas such as supply chain/trade, new industries, diplomacy, and security.

In addition, for fields with high strategic importance, 50 detailed key technologies were specified and mid- to long-term plans were added, including R&D investment, international cooperation, and human resource development.

■ 12 National Strategic Technology Fields Promotion Goals

In the semiconductor and display sectors, full support for the non-memory semiconductor market is expected by targeting a system semiconductor market share of 3% (by 2021) → 10% (by 2021). The secondary battery export target is to achieve $7.5 billion (by 2021) → $20 billion (by 2030).

Urban Air Mobility (UAM), which is attracting attention as a next-generation mobility field, is aiming for commercialization by 2025, and major companies including SKT are currently forming the K-UAM consortium to conduct verification.

In the next-generation nuclear power sector, we aim to secure an independent SMR reactor by 28 years. In the hydrogen sector, we are also working on securing strategic technologies, with the goal of demonstrating a 10MW-class water electrolysis system by 2030 and launching a lunar lander using our own launch vehicle by 2031.

With the digital transformation, we will increase our competitiveness in the AI field, which is attracting attention as a cutting-edge future technology, and we will demonstrate 6G communication as well as 5G for the first time in the world in 26 years. Beyond industrial automation, the advanced robot and smart manufacturing market for building smart factories will leap forward to become one of the world's top three powerhouses, including Germany and the United States. We will also aim to secure 90% of the technology compared to the United States in the quantum field.

■ Public-Private Cooperation 'National Strategic Technology Project' Promotion

National strategic technology is promoted as a 'national strategic technology project' in which public and private sectors jointly set goals and make joint investments. The government announced that it will support the selection and implementation of eight additional projects by the end of 2023, starting with ‘next-generation nuclear power’ and ‘quantum.’

The main measures for the intensive fostering of national strategic technologies were presented as follows: △ Concentrating policy and investment support based on the strategic roadmap, △ Expansion of the strategic technology fostering base including talent, international cooperation, and industry-academia-research hubs, and △ Establishment of a comprehensive national strategy promotion system for technological sovereignty.

The government will establish a technology-specific strategic roadmap, rather than simply expanding quantitatively, and support mission-oriented R&D investment through linkages between ministries and businesses. In addition, it will focus its capabilities on securing key talents in national strategic technologies and strengthen international cooperation in science and technology with the U.S., the EU, and others.

In particular, we will strengthen cooperation between academia, industry, and research institutes as a national strategic technology fostering base and strengthen support for commercialization of strategic technologies by establishing regional technology innovation hubs.

We will establish a strategic technology governance centered on public-private cooperation and lay the foundation through the enactment of the ‘National Strategic Technology Special Act.’ This includes comprehensive support measures such as priority investment in R&D, promotion of challenging R&D, training of excellent human resources, and establishment of industry-academia-research hubs and international cooperation.

The government predicted that through the national strategic technology project, it would be possible to expand the number of strategic technology fields with a technology level of 90% or higher compared to the leading technology-leading countries from three (semiconductors, displays, secondary batteries, and next-generation communications) in 2020 to more than eight in 27 years.

Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho said, “In the current political climate where science and technology are at the center of the international order, we must pool the capabilities of the government and the private sector to foster 12 national strategic technologies that are the core links connecting the national economy and security.” He added, “We will pool the wisdom and capabilities of the public and private sectors, centered around the National Science and Technology Advisory Council, on strategic technologies that will affect our country’s core interests, thereby realizing future growth and securing technological sovereignty.”