The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, an arm of the Commerce Ministry, announced South Korea's Top Ten New Technologies of 2004 on Wednesday.

The agency selected ten leading domestically-developed technologies ready to be commercially launched, which are either the world's first or the world's best in their respective fields.

The list includes steel-manufacturing technology with no need of a blast furnace invented by POSCO, terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcast or DMB cell phones by LG Electronic, Samsung SDI's 32-inch ultraslim TV monitor, Hyundai Motor's hybrid electric car, and the ultraviolet-ray protective cosmetic brand by Amore Pacific.

Analysts predict that the combined total sales produced by the ten technologies this year will stand at some 5.04 trillion won or nearly 5 billion dollars. In terms of export, the promising technologies are forecast to record ten-billion dollars worth of shipments over the next two to three years.