The government has decided to support a record maximum budget of 5.7 trillion won for research and development in the industrial and energy sectors next year. It will strengthen R&D support by investing about 1.2565 trillion won in advanced strategic industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, future cars, and next-generation robots.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on the 22nd, "On the 23rd, we will announce the '2025 Industrial Technology Innovation Project Integrated Implementation Plan,' which includes this content, and reveal the budget execution schedule."
The ministry will support a record 5.7 trillion won for research and development next year. This is an increase of 10.8% compared to this year's budget size of 5.1396 trillion won.
The announced projects exclude those supported by loans (120 billion won) and include 218 projects. By sector, 1.2565 trillion won, an increase of 14.4% (158.1 billion won) from this year, will be invested in six advanced strategic industries, including semiconductors, secondary batteries, displays, bio, future cars, and next-generation robots.
For supply chain stabilization super gap technology R&D budget to ensure economic security, 1.8158 trillion won, an increase of 4.8% (83.8 billion won) from this year, will be supported. The R&D budget for responding to artificial intelligence (AI), digital, and eco-friendly transitions is set at 660.2 billion won, an increase of 21.9% (118.8 billion won), and 259.1 billion won, an increase of 12.9% (29.7 billion won), has been allocated for nurturing excellent personnel.
According to the ministry, there will be about 1,400 new R&D projects next year. The government plans to support a total budget of 870 billion won, with over 70% invested in super gap projects.
Representative investments in research include ultra-miniaturized advanced packaging for semiconductors (17.8 billion won), next-generation light-emitting displays (18 billion won), all-solid-state batteries for wearable devices (5 billion won), and rapid wireless charging for lithium-ion batteries within eight minutes (4 billion won). Additional funding is provided for biofoundry infrastructure (5.2 billion won), on-device AI semiconductors (4.3 billion won), world’s best AI accelerator semiconductors for autonomous vehicles (4.3 billion won), telecommunications semiconductors (4.6 billion won), and soft robotics that operate similar to the human body (3.2 billion won).
An official from the ministry said, "We plan to select 85% of new projects by the first half of next year," noting, "We will announce projects from January next year and sign agreements with research institutions starting in April."
The ministry also plans to continue investments in approximately 4,500 ongoing projects through procedures such as mid-term reviews and agreement changes.
Je Gyeong-hee, director of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Industrial Technology Convergence Policy, said, "In the fierce competition for technological supremacy, we plan to intensively support next year's budget for projects that enable our corporations and researchers to challenge for the world’s best," adding, "We will swiftly execute the budget to respond to the rapidly changing industrial environment."