기술 패권의 대전환기, 대한민국은 ‘초격차’라는 이름의 파고를 넘을 수 있는가 > K-wave Trends

Recently, President Lee Jae-myung celebrated his first anniversary in office and declared ‘securing absolute competitiveness in the field of advanced technology’ as the key policy policy of the government going forward. This is not simply limited to the specific field of semiconductors, but is an expression of our strong will to transform the entire country's industrial structure into a future-oriented one. The government plans to work closely with the private sector to mobilize all available resources and will soon launch large-scale investment projects to support this. In particular, it was emphasized that the fruits of this growth should not be limited to a few large companies but should be evenly spread to small and medium-sized businesses, startups, and local economies across the country. This embodies the philosophy of ‘inclusive growth’, which states that technological innovation should lead to changes in people’s livelihood that can be felt by all citizens, and also shows the will to eradicate old practices such as unfair trading in the stock market and real estate corruption.

In the private sector, Korean semiconductor companies, led by Samsung Electronics, are showing overwhelming investment in the global market, proving the technological gap. Even in 2023, during the semiconductor recession, Samsung Electronics used an aggressive strategy of increasing investment, pouring an amount several times its operating profit into developing future technologies. SK Hynix is ​​also solidifying the cornerstone of the global semiconductor super cycle by investing astronomical amounts of funds. However, experts point out that there is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of the ratio of research and development (R&D) to sales compared to American companies such as Intel and Nvidia. Even considering the structural differences between integrated semiconductor companies (IDMs) that directly own production facilities and design-oriented fabless companies, strengthening qualitative research capabilities and software competitiveness beyond the external investment scale has now become an essential task for survival in the global market.

The scope of the industry is rapidly expanding not only to semiconductors but also to aerospace and eco-friendly transportation. It is a very encouraging sign that Sacheon City in Gyeongsangnam-do has begun providing unprecedented incentives to attract companies and produce precision parts, centered around the National Aerospace Industrial Complex. This can be interpreted as a concrete move to build a solid infrastructure for Korea to become a base in the aerospace field. Meanwhile, global companies such as Volvo Trucks are emphasizing the need to transition to eco-friendly trucks in the Korean market and are strongly requesting the government to actively expand charging infrastructure and provide realistic subsidies. In the commercial vehicle industry, carbon neutrality is no longer a matter of choice but a matter of survival, and without policy support, there is a high risk of falling into a ‘vicious cycle’ where market expansion is delayed even though the technology is ready.

Global capital, which has recognized the potential of the Korean market, is also very busy. Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative investment management company, announced that it will significantly expand its investment in Korea to 30 trillion won within the next few years. In particular, they see demand for power infrastructure due to the spread of artificial intelligence, data centers, and reorganization of the semiconductor supply chain as key investment opportunities. The fact that Canada-based Brookfield has been investing heavily in Korea's infrastructure and renewable energy sectors since acquiring Seoul IFC is proof that the global attractiveness of the Korean economy remains high. This suggests that the ‘partnership model’, which creates value by combining global capital with large-scale infrastructure investments that are difficult for Korean companies to solve on their own, will become more active. In the end, only when technology, capital, and policy work together efficiently will Korea be able to establish itself as the center of global technological hegemony.