S. Korean electronics industry to invest 4 tln won in LED sector by 2012

SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean electronics industry plans to pour a combined 4 trillion won (US$3.4 billion) into the development of liquid crystal display (LED) technologies over the next three years, government officials said Tuesday.

The investment, unveiled at an industrywide meeting of leading companies' senior
officials and Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, is aimed at building up
the country's competitiveness in the LED sector and its overall research and
development capabilities by 2012.
South Korea is a global leader in the LED industry with Samsung Electronics Co.
and LG Electronics Co. dominating the market. Local companies were also the first
to make commercial LED TV sets.
South Korean companies' presence in the global LED market is expected to soar to
21.2 percent for this year and may reach 28.9 percent in 2010 from 9.9 percent in
2008, industry sources said.
At Tuesday's meeting, the executives from companies including Samsung, LG and SK
Telecom confirmed that the industry has made progress in locally built so-called
metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) machines used to deposit thin
layers of atoms onto a semiconductor wafer.
The first indigenous MOCVDs, for which the local industry depend on imports, is
expected to reach the market next year.
They said that businesses are scrambling to meet calls for more eco-friendly
products and asked the government to extend more tax breaks and offer incentives.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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