Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to focus on shipbuilding, defense and semiconductors

[Provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]
[Provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

The government has designated four new specialized clusters for materials, parts and equipment — in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province (shipbuilding and offshore plants), Daejeon (defense electronics and optical components), Gunsan and Iksan in North Jeolla Province (semiconductor chemical materials), and Cheonan and Asan in South Chungcheong Province (semiconductor back-end processes) — and plans to invest a combined 8 trillion won ($5.85 billion) together with the private sector.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it made the decision Thursday at the 18th meeting of the Materials, Parts and Equipment Competitiveness Reinforcement Committee, held at the Export-Import Bank of Korea and chaired by Minister Kim Jung-kwan.

The third-generation clusters were selected from 16 development plans submitted by 11 cities and provinces during a one-month open call that ran from March 23. Evaluators assessed each bid on criteria including clustering effects, infrastructure availability and regional connectivity.

Each of the four newly designated clusters will anchor supply chain completeness in line with its region's core growth drivers.

Geoje, designated as the shipbuilding and offshore plant cluster, will use Hanwha Ocean as its anchor company and pursue domestic production of key equipment for the liquefaction process of floating LNG facilities. Private investment planned through 2030 stands at 1.5 trillion won.

Daejeon will host a defense electronics and optical components supply chain. LIG D&A and Hanwha Aerospace, among others, will develop precision electronic and optical components for platforms including the KF-21 fighter jet and K9 self-propelled howitzer. Private investment is set at 1 trillion won.

Gunsan-Iksan and Cheonan-Asan will focus on strengthening supply chains for semiconductor chemical materials and back-end processes, respectively.

In Gunsan-Iksan, companies including Dongwoo Fine-Chem, Hansol Chemical, OCI and PKC will advance ultra-high-purity chemical material technologies used in cleaning, etching and deposition processes while expanding production capacity. Private investment totals 830 billion won.

Cheonan-Asan will build capabilities in back-end semiconductor processing, a field critical to AI chip competitiveness. Hana Micron and TSE will pursue self-sufficiency in HBM packaging equipment and test components, respectively. Private investment amounts to 370 billion won.

The government will inject about 40 billion won per cluster — a total of 160 billion won over five years — to foster inter-company cooperation and secure technological competitiveness.

In addition, the central government and local authorities plan to form a unified support team to facilitate timely delivery of 7.7 trillion won in total private investment, including 4 trillion won from demand-side companies, by providing streamlined permitting and policy financing.

The government previously designated five clusters each in the first generation in 2021 and the second generation in 2023.

With four more added this round, the total number of specialized materials, parts and equipment clusters nationwide rises to 14. By sector, semiconductors account for the most with five clusters, followed by automobiles with two, and one each for machinery, displays, secondary batteries, biotech, defense, shipbuilding and carbon materials.

Across the existing first- and second-generation clusters, 15 core technology development projects are under way and investment worth 11.5 trillion won is being carried out with government support.

"The new specialized clusters are set to serve as core production bases and regional growth hubs that will establish us as an indispensable industrial powerhouse amid the reshaping of global supply chains and industries," Minister Kim said. "The government will provide full backing to help our leading industries secure and advance their technology edge and to ensure private investment flows smoothly."


oskymoon@heraldcorp.com