Seoul to develop LED application market

The government will support companies to speed up development of application technologies of light emitting diodes, or LEDs to other possible devices, officials said yesterday.

As part of its effort the boost the country`s LED industry, the government will establish four R&D centers - one each in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, North Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province.

The government expects the four centers to develop technologies for LED applications for the agricultural, automobiles and electronics sectors.

The new centers will provide comprehensive support for companies in each of the regions including human resources and technological development.

The Ministry of Knowledge and Economy will invest a combined 19.6 billion won ($13 million) coming from the central and provincial governments and the private sector this year.

A total of 76.5 billion won will be spent on developing LEDs application technologies for the next five years, the ministry said.

LEDs, which are small chips encased in glass the size of a matchstick head, have been used as backlights for mobile phone screens, street signs and automobile lamps. Electronics companies have been moving fast to adopt LEDs in products to utilize LEDs` environment-friendly, energy-efficient and color-displaying features.

By Cho Chung-un

(christory@heraldm.com)