Korean OLED sector needs specialized research center

[THE INVESTOR] Display experts urged the Korean government to make all-out efforts to enable the nation’s display makers to maintain their lead in the market for organic light-emitting diode display, considered the future display for its flexibility and transparency.

Participating in a meeting to boost the next-generation OLED industry in Seoul on June 28, Lee Jeong-ik, a chief researcher at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, a state-run research institution, said in his speech that the Korean government should spare no efforts to accelerate innovation in the OELD industry.

“The Korean display sector needs a research center like the IMEC in the chip industry,” said the researcher, calling for collaboration between the private sector and government research institutes.

The IMEC is a Belgium-headquartered international research institute focused on research and development of chips and solar cells.

Some participants in the meeting claimed more efforts need to be made to promote displays made by Korean firms, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

“The Korean display industry should take a twofold strategy, by protecting some technologies on one hand while opening technology for standardization on the other, in order to boost its competitiveness,” said Cho Joong-hoon, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, a state-funded policy-making agency for the tech sector.

The KIAT researcher said tailored market strategies to promote display products made by Korean firms -- Samsung Display and LG Display -- are needed as in the case of US chipmaker Intel for its Intel Inside aimed at promoting its chips.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com">wone0102@heraldcorp.com)