The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has announced plans to promote greater private investment in new growth engines and bolster the current flagship industries.
 
The ministry made the announcement in its 2016 policy briefing to President Park Geun-hye on Monday.
 
Under the plans, the ministry will speed up the development of electric cars and establishment of infrastructure to charge the plug-in vehicles. The ministry will also spend 27 billion won or 22-point-28 million U.S. dollars this year on aiding the development of core parts and software for smart cars.
 
It will also increase policy and financial support for the development of industrial drones, intelligent robots, wearable devices and smart home systems.
 
In addition, it will foster the energy industry by removing regulations on the use of energy storage systems in emergencies. It will also ease regulations on new power suppliers’ access to the electricity market, which is now virtually monopolized by the Korea Electric Power Corporation.
 
At the same time, more assistance will be provided to upgrade core industries that are currently stagnant, such as the shipbuilding, steelmaking and petrochemical sectors. Efforts to further enhance the competitiveness of the semiconductor and display industries overseas are included as well in the yearly plan.