The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has expanded its dedicated semiconductor policy organisation to bureau level. The ministry said on Oct. 13 that a cabinet meeting approved a decree revising its organisational rules to establish the Semiconductor Innovation Growth Support Division.

The revision is intended to handle statutory duties created by the enforcement of the Special Act on Strengthening and Supporting the Competitiveness of the Semiconductor Industry, as well as semiconductor mega projects, the ministry said. It is a follow-up reinforcement to a reorganisation in December last year that created the Office of Industrial Resources Security and the Director General for Industrial AI Policy. The revision will take effect on Oct. 20.

The Semiconductor Innovation Growth Support Division will have a director-general-level head and include the Semiconductor Policy Division, the Advanced Semiconductor Division and the Semiconductor Ecosystem Division. Its main functions are policy planning, strengthening advanced semiconductor competitiveness and supporting the ecosystem, including materials, parts and equipment.

It will also support 추진 of mega projects, including the southwest region semiconductor cluster. The division will also handle new statutory duties such as drafting a basic plan to strengthen competitiveness, operating the Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Special Committee, and designating and supporting clusters.

The ministry will also create an India Trade Cooperation Division dedicated to South Korea-India economic cooperation. Tasks have increased since a summit in April, including establishing an industrial cooperation committee, resuming talks to improve the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, known as CEPA, which covers trade in goods and services as well as investment, and cooperation on energy and resource security. The new division will be responsible for bilateral industrial and investment cooperation, identifying new projects, supporting domestic companies' entry into the local market, resolving corporate difficulties, and strengthening intergovernmental cooperation channels.

Minister Kim Jung-kwan (김정관) said semiconductors are an essential supply chain for all industries, including AI, automobiles and home appliances, and account for about 50 percent of South Korea's exports, making them a key industry for the national economy. He said the ministry would support corporate investment and technological innovation, including mega projects, through the new division as competition for semiconductor dominance intensifies, and further solidify South Korea's semiconductor competitiveness.

He added that the ministry would turn cooperation momentum created at the summit into tangible results for South Korean companies, centred on the India Trade Cooperation Division.