S. Korea to seek global leadership in AI chip, advanced bio, quantum technologies: gov't

All News 18:20 April 25, 2024

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will launch an initiative to become one of three leading nations in the so-called game-changer industries that include artificial intelligence (AI) chip, advanced biology and quantum technologies by 2030, the science ministry said Thursday.

The Presidential Advisory Council on Science & Technology held a meeting and decided to adopt the "game-changer technology initiative" aimed at making the country the "first mover" in such areas that the Ministry of Science and ICT said will change the future.

The decision came three days after President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to nurture the science and technology sectors to make South Korea one of the world's top-three countries in the field.

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers remarks during a ceremony marking science, technology, and information and communications day at Gwacheon National Science Museum in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on April 22, 2024. (Yonhap)

Under the initiative, the ministry said South Korea will strengthen investment on AI chip, advanced biology and quantum science technologies, advance the value chain of the markets and bolster strategic cooperation with its allies.

For the AI chip industry, the government will work to develop artificial general intelligence, a next-generation AI with equally advanced cognitive ability as human, low power AI and AI safety technologies.

The government also plans to foster innovations in the industry, such as the application of processing-in-memory technology on memory chips and the development of neuromorphic AI semiconductor and advanced chip packaging systems.

For the advanced biotechnology industry, the country will focus on fostering digital biotechnologies that connect data, AI and biology, and securing synthetic biology technologies, including DNA and RNA design, protein design and genetic circuit control, according to the ministry.

The ministry said the government will also double its budget from this year for quantum science in 2025 to prepare for the era of quantum technology, which will play a pivotal role in the future economy as well as national defense.

In detail, the government will bolster the country's capacity in quantum science by developing quantum processor units for quantum computer and quantum algorithm, software, network and sensing technologies, the ministry added.