Jeonnam Gwangju to Invest 13.1 Billion Won to Boost Semiconductor, Energy, and Mobility Technologies

Regional Self-Driven R&D Tailored to Local Needs
Industry, Academia, and Research Institutes Led by GIST

Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City will invest 13.1 billion won this year to pursue research and development in the fields of semiconductors, energy, and mobility.

According to Gwangju Special City on September 17, the Ministry of Science and ICT recently held a launch event for the "Quad-Pole, Triple-Special Regional Autonomous R&D Project" at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), officially kicking off the project. This year, 13.1 billion won will be injected into the Honam region.

Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City.

The regional autonomous R&D initiative is a program in which research projects needed by the region are planned and carried out locally, based on industrial conditions, scientific and technological capabilities, and corporate technology needs.

In the Honam region, the Integrated Special City will set the direction of the projects based on regional industrial policy and corporate demand, and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) will oversee the project group. Local universities, research institutes, and companies will participate in planning and undertaking R&D projects.

The focus areas in the Honam region are semiconductors, energy, and mobility.

In the semiconductor sector, efforts will be directed toward developing advanced AI-based packaging and thermal management technologies, as well as industrially specialized, high-reliability AI, optical, and power semiconductor technologies, with the aim of demonstration and commercialization.

In the energy sector, the projects will include the development of virtual power line (VPL) technology, sodium-ion battery-based grid-forming energy storage systems (ESS), and next-generation clean energy technologies that integrate green hydrogen with laser nuclear fusion.

In the mobility sector, the plans are to develop and demonstrate on site: AI autonomous manufacturing utilizing multi-type robots, non-destructive diagnosis and resource circulation for used batteries, and transportation safety and disaster response technologies based on urban digital twin platforms.

The Honam region project group held a briefing session at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology on September 4, where it explained the direction of the initiative and plans for research group recruitment to local universities and research institutions. Recruitment for participating research groups has been underway since September 11.

Hyungbin Seo, Director General for Strategic Industries at Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City, said, "This project is about independently discovering and planning the R&D tasks needed by the region, linking them to future industries," adding, "We will ensure that R&D achievements lead to business growth and strengthened industrial competitiveness."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.