This month’s conference will be the second to be held under the Digital Partnership, which was launched in 2022.
advertisementSouth Korea and Europe will announce the holding of a joint semiconductor research forum at the EU-Korea Digital Partnership Council meeting to be held in Brussels on March 26, according to a draft document obtained by Euronews.
This forum brings together European and Korean researchers and fosters joint research projects. The two sides will also explore developing common methods to improve the security and resilience of the chip supply chain.
Semiconductors, microprocessors, and other chips used in electronic devices are in high demand. South Korea is the world’s second largest semiconductor manufacturer after Taiwan.
The EU’s chip law, which takes effect in 2023, is expected to significantly boost the EU’s domestic chip production, raising its global share to around 20% by 2030. In 2020, the EU’s share of the global microchip market was approximately 10%.
China’s domestic production is likely to be curtailed by U.S. sanctions, giving Europe an opportunity to increase its own production and fill the gap in the market.
6G
The meeting, chaired by EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and South Korean Minister of Science, Information and Communications Lee Jong-ho, is the second under the Digital Partnership announced in 2022. The aim is to strengthen cooperation in digital emerging technologies. .
Both sides also agreed to foster synergies in standards bodies based on a common vision for 6G. The two sides also plan to launch a joint call for research proposals on topics targeting radio access networks (RAN) and integrated device network approaches to demonstrate 6G technologies. The EU will invest approximately 3 million euros and South Korea approximately 2 million euros.
The project is scheduled to start at the end of 2024, and the third meeting of the Digital Partnership Council is scheduled to be held in Seoul in the first half of 2025.
The EU signed its first digital partnership with Japan in May 2022, and its second digital partnership with Singapore in February last year. The EU is also exploring cooperation with the US under the Trade and Technology Council (TTC), with the next meeting scheduled for early April in Belgium.
