By Reporter Anna Kim 

Trade, Industry and Energy 1st Vice Minister Jang Young-jin attended the Korea-Japan joint technology R&D project launching ceremony on June 14 in Seoul for strengthening both countries’ fine chemical technology competitiveness as bilateral economic and private sector exchanges are gaining momentum on the occasion of the Tokyo summit meeting in March.

In the planning stages of this project, the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) conducted a technology demand survey on fine chemical-related domestic institutes to narrow down the prospective areas for joint R&D between the two countries.

Nine project tasks were selected through the Chemical Industry Forum from 42 technology demands, including biomass-based advanced adhesives and high-temperature resistant antioxidants for semiconductor packaging.

KEIT will conduct additional surveys on technology demand to finalize the task projects so as to plan out the Korea-Japan joint pilot project in further detail. Assistance for project facilitation will start in 2025.

Vice Minister Jang stated that “Korea currently takes up 5.7 percent in the KRW 160 trillion market for fine chemical materials,” and added that “if technology development of core materials in semiconductor, display and secondary battery sectors is achieved, it is anticipated that Korea’s market share and sales in the 350 trillion won core materials global market will reach 15 percent and 52 trillion won, respectively, by 2031 when the project is scheduled for termination.”