The government has pledged to invest more than seven trillion won, or five-point-nine billion U.S. dollars, over the next five years in 12 future growth engines such as autonomous cars, the Internet of Things, biomedical engineering, drones and augmented and virtual reality, among others.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the list on Wednesday during a joint government-private meeting to discuss new industries.

Identifying what it called the four mega trends of Smart, Servitization, Sustainable and Platform, the ministry said the country needs to swiftly respond to the changes.

Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said South Korea is lagging behind in the preparedness and capacity to deal with the mega trends. However, he said South Korea will be able to catch up by utilizing its strength, such as world-class information and technology-related infrastructure, solid manufacturing basis and competitive energy industry.

The government projects that new industries will account for 12-point-two percent of all of the country's industries by 2025, doubling from six-point-six last year. It said new industries will also create 380-thousand jobs by 2025.