The Korean display industry aims at raising display exports from $35 billion in 2012 to $50 billion in 2015 and getting a jumpstart in the global next-generation display market. 

These are contained in “Vision 2015,” which the Korean display industry unveiled at a ceremony to celebrate the third anniversary of Display Day at the Seoul JW Marriott Hotel on Oct. 5. Among the roughly 300 people from industry, academia, and research circles on hand at the ceremony were Minister of Knowledge Economy (MKE) Hong Suk-woo; Cho Soo-in, chairman of the Korean Display Industry Association (KDIA) and current CEO of Samsung Display; and Han Sang-beom, president of LG Display.  

Display Day is observed in the third week of October to mark Korea’s posting $10 billion worth of display exports in October 2006.

MKE Minister Hong delivered a commemorative speech in which he praised the Korean display industry’s feat of topping the global market and called for cohesive collaboration among industry, academia, and research circles to overcome challenges from rival countries down the road. 

He stressed that the government is now implementing policies to foster the Korean display industry with a focus on occupying the future market by developing new materials and core equipment and establishing testing and certifying infrastructure. He also urged those in the industry to redouble efforts to aggressively explore foreign markets and boost exports in step with the government’s policies. 

The MKE set aside 73.3 billion won in 2012 for support for R&D and infrastructure establishment, a 46 percent surge from the 50.3 billion won allocated in 2011. 

Thirty-nine people were presented with a variety of medals and prizes in recognition of their contributions to the development of the Korean display industry. 

The Industrial Service Medal went to Kim Chong-in, president of Meere Company, for his role in improving the trade balance against Japan and China, while Lee Joon-hyuk, CEO of Dongjin Semichem, won the Presidential Prize for localizing electronics materials. Lee Soon-jong, CEO of Semisysco, was presented with the Prime Minister’s Prize for his company’s developing of display testing equipment and its contribution to boosting exports. 

Among the 10 winners of the MKE Minister’s Prize were Kong Hyang-shik, a managing director of Samsung Display, for localizing core equipment including digital exposure apparatus, and Kang Soon-suk, an executive director of Sunic System, for his contribution to the development of an OLED (organic light emitting diodes) thermal evaporation system.  

The participants of the anniversary event renewed their determination to maintain an upper hand in the global display market in the future. 

The Korean display industry made a strong showing by taking a record 50 percent share of the global display market despite the ongoing recession last year.