Vice Minister Moon of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on the 22nd during a government-wide economic growth strategy briefing, "I will do my best to leap to a leading country in physical AI by 2030."
Vice Minister Moon noted, "Under a national-level artificial intelligence collaborative system, we will focus on nurturing physical AI," and emphasized, "We will actively promote seven leading projects, including humanoids, autonomous vehicles, AI factories, and on-device AI semiconductors."
The government plans to form sectoral promotion teams in cooperation with private and research institutions to support research and development (R&D), validation, regulatory easing, market access, and financing as a package.
He added, "By achieving specific goals such as the deployment of humanoids in manufacturing, the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles, ships, and drones, we will become a leading country in physical AI by 2030."
Vice Minister Moon also emphasized the technological independence of advanced materials and components. The government plans to focus on the development of key materials and components such as silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors, LNG cargo tanks, superconductors, graphene, and special carbon steel, while increasing independence through infrastructure expansion and financial support. Notably, the goal is to raise the technology independence rate of SiC power semiconductors from the current level of 10% to 20% by 2030.
Additionally, Vice Minister Moon said, "We will not fall behind in global competition in the fields of climate, energy, and future responses." He added, "We will strengthen our competitiveness in renewable energy by promoting research and development on solar power and next-generation power grids, large-scale validation support, development of key technologies for offshore wind power and HVDC (high voltage direct current transmission), securing ultra-gap technologies for green hydrogen, and establishing regional bases for small modular reactors (SMRs)."