Notables, including Chairman Lee Young-kwan of Toray Advanced Materials Korea Group (TAK) and TAK Vice Chairman Ijuin Hideki, shovel at a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of TAK Group’s R&D center in Magok, Seoul, on Oct. 11. (Photo: TAK)

Toray Advanced Materials Korea (TAK) Group will build an R&D center in Magok, western Seoul, to explore new growth engines in the future advanced materials sector by concentrating its R&D capabilities.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of TAK Group’s R&D center in Magok took place on Oct. 11 with about 100 people, including Chairman Lee Young-kwan of TAK Group and TAK Vice Chairman Ijuin Hideki, in attendance.

The project calls for building an eight-storey building with two basement floors which stands at about 30,000 sq. meters in combined floor space. TAK, Toray Chemical Korea and T&K Information System will move into the R&D center, which is to be dedicated in November 2019.

The move is part of TAK’s strategy to ramp up its upper hand over the Korean market. TAK Group Chairman Lee said, “TAK’s R&D Center will be a center of TAK Group’s growth beyond R&D core for future growth.” The Year 2019 will be the first year of TAK’s second leap forward, he said.

TAK is implementing a project to invest a combined 1 trillion won in Korea by 2020 with the goal of achieving 5 trillion won in annual sales. Earlier, Toray Industries unveiled a plan to invest 1 trillion won in Korea last October. Toray Industries aims at increasing annual sales of its Korean operation, TAK by 5 trillion won by 2020 by expanding investments in businesses such as advanced materials, spunbond nonwovens, and batteries.

TAK’s move represents a striking contrast with an increasing number of Korean companies which have relocated their plants abroad, citing woes such as higher labor costs and stringent regulations. The R&D center project is to be pushed with an additional budget.

President Akihiro Nikkaku of Toray Industries said during his visit here last year that there are many global companies in Korea such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, LG, and SK, and its operation in Korea needs to be expanded to meet their demand for materials and strengthen cooperation with them.

TAK’s R&D center is to be designed with a focus on convergence research. TAK finds it essential to invigorate inside and outside convergence work to cope with technology changes. Affiliates of TAK Group, to be housed in the R&D center, will join forces in the early stage of the development of value-added materials such as IT, electronics and automobiles as well as basic and element technologies.

TAK Establishes Korea Toray Science Foundation to Nurture Innovative Manpower
Toray Advanced Materials Korea (TAK) has established a science promotion foundation with the goal of promoting the development of Korea’s science and supporting creative researchers.

In January, TAK set up the Korea Toray Science Foundation with TAK officials’ participation.

The purpose of the move is designed to focus support on the chemical and materials fields, bases of science and technology in Korea and contributing to industry development, and future manpower development. On top of Japan, Toray Group has established such science promotion foundations in Asian countries, including Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, contributing to the development of national science and technology.

Korea Toray Science Foundation, headed by Chairman Lee Young-kwan of the board of directors, announced the winners of the 1st Korea Toray Science Foundation Awards and recipients of science technology research fund programs on Sept. 19.

The 1st Korea Toray Science Foundation Awards went to Prof. Chang Seok-bok of KAIST Chemistry Department in the basic research category and Prof. Chang Jung-shik of Seoul National University Chemical and Biological Engineering Department in the application research category. Each of the winners will be presented with a cash prize of 100 million won and an award plaque.