FKI Korea-Japan Cooperation Plan Report
Amid the recent improvement in Korea-Japan relations, a study has emerged that suggests that Korea-Japan cooperation should be strengthened centering on new industries such as next-generation semiconductors and electric vehicles and batteries.
According to a report commissioned by the Federation of Korean Industries on the 28th to Kim Yang-paeng, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, △next-generation semiconductor △electric vehicle/battery △mobility were selected as promising new industries for cooperation between Korea and Japan.
The report emphasized that in order for Korea to escape the current semiconductor crisis, it must develop next-generation semiconductors ahead of its competitors through cooperation between Korea and Japan. This is because the Korean semiconductor industry, which is centered on memory semiconductors, has reached its physical limit in terms of technology, and the position of Korean companies is narrowing due to the U.S.-led supply chain reorganization policy.
Specifically, a plan was chosen to jointly develop original technologies by utilizing areas in which each country has competitiveness, such as Korea’s semiconductor manufacturing technology and Japan’s materials and parts fields. Investment in research and development (R&D) facilities in Japan by Korean semiconductor companies and attraction of Japanese high-tech companies in Korean semiconductor clusters were also presented. It is a plan that takes into consideration the precedents in which Samsung Electronics and others developed joint technologies with Japan’s Sony and Toshiba in the past.
He suggested that Korea-Japan technological cooperation should be expanded in the electric vehicle and battery industries as well. In the battery industry, the import of materials and parts accounts for more than 70% of the production cost, so the effect of cooperation with Japan can increase. In the mobility industry, self-driving technology, high-precision mapping technology, and quantum computer technology were cited as new growth engines for both countries.
Policy tasks include restoration of official dialogue channels between the governments of the two countries, sharing and utilization of joint research results between Korea and Japan, and operation of a joint control tower. Researcher Kim emphasized, “Above all, it is important to provide trust that political risks do not affect economic relations between the two countries.”
Source: Donga
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