The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) said on the 27th that they held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Korea Light Source (KLS) at the Ochang synchrotron site in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, and would begin construction.
The Korea Light Source is a research facility that uses synchrotron radiation generated as electrons are accelerated to near the speed of light to precisely observe the microstructure and properties of matter. It will be built as a fourth-generation circular synchrotron and is expected to be used for basic and applied research across a range of fields, including semiconductors, secondary batteries, and advanced materials.
A total of 1.1643 trillion won will be invested in the project. The Ministry of Science and ICT and North Chungcheong Province plan to sequentially establish the accelerator, beamlines, and research support facilities with the goal of completion by the end of 2029. The Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) will lead the project. After the accelerator is completed, domestic research institutions, universities, and corporations will use it to analyze the structure and performance of materials and components.
Given that construction on a large-scale research facility will proceed over an extended period, the government said it will pair safety management with process inspections. Working with related agencies, it plans to identify risk factors at each stage of construction and continuously check whether safety measures are being implemented and how key processes are progressing.
First Vice Minister Ku Hyuk-chae of the Ministry of Science and ICT said, "As we have entered the full-fledged construction phase, we will manage the entire process with safety as the top priority," and added, "We will push the project forward so that a research infrastructure usable by researchers and industry is built as planned."