South Korea teams up with overseas tech partners

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

The six bidders include five US-based institutes and universities – the 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 South Korean companies,” Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said at the conference. — The Korea Herald/ANN