South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Thursday it held an "Advanced Plasma Strategy Meeting" with about 20 experts from industry, academia and research institutes in the plasma field to discuss the direction of efforts to push ahead with a technology development strategy.

Plasma is a fourth state of matter beyond solid, liquid and gas, and is used in core processes for national strategic technologies, including semiconductor etching and deposition, synthesis of new materials and advanced biomedical care. Major countries are making systematic, government-led investments, including the United States, which has established a "Plasma Science Roadmap" and is investing about 25 trillion won. By contrast, South Korea has faced criticism for developing technology in a fragmented way depending on demand by industry.

The ministry will begin establishing a tentatively titled "Advanced Plasma Technology Development Strategy" with the goal of securing technological competitiveness by 2035 at the level of the United States, Europe, China and Japan. It will be 추진 through three detailed strategies: demand-tailored technology development, revitalising the research ecosystem, and building institutional and cooperation foundations.

Experts who attended the meeting cited a lack of research into fundamental technologies and training of specialist personnel, and fragmented industry-academia-research cooperation as problems. They agreed that it is urgent to establish a systematic, government-level strategy.

Oh Dae-hyun (오대현), director general for Future Strategic Technology Policy at the ministry, said, "Plasma is a disruptive innovation technology that will make it possible to break through the limits of key industries and enhance capabilities in new industries." He said, "We will draw up the strategy in detail so that we can secure technological competitiveness at the level of the world's top four plasma powers."