Trade Ministry teams up with overseas institutes for industrial innovation

South Korea has tentatively chosen some of the top universities and institutions worldwide for technology partnerships, aiming to acquire advanced technologies that can assist domestic companies.

The Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy announced six institutes as preferred bidders out of 30 universities and institutes from nine countries that applied for the partnership, on Friday.

The six bidders include five US-based institutes and universities -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Purdue University, Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of Technology -- and Fraunhofer, a German-based institute.

The initiative follows the government's release of a comprehensive strategy to secure advanced industrial original technologies through global cooperation, which was outlined in December last year.

The sectors include semiconductors, biotechnology, battery, displays, future mobility, robotics, artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

"We need to boldly pursue an innovative strategy for the bigger growth of Korean companies," Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said at the conference.

The institutes that are to be chosen as the Global Industrial Technology Cooperation Center will act as platforms for technology cooperation, linking laboratory faculties in their respective countries with Korean companies seeking new research and development opportunities.

Regarding newly developed technologies, the intellectual property rights will belong to each faculty member, according to a Trade Ministry official. "But the government has established a basic condition that South Korea must have the right to apply the technology before other countries," the official added.

The ministry has allocated 57.5 billion won ($42.5 million) for this year alone to support approximately 45 tasks, out of 684 billion won earmarked for the next five years.

A total of 12 institutions will participate in the program, with at least six institutions targeted for this year, the ministry announced.

Meanwhile, to facilitate cooperation, the ministry also operates an independent commission consisting of some 10 industry experts, scholars and government officials, including Oh Se-jung, former president of Seoul National University.