Seventh-generation lines under way on a larger scale As global competition heats up among advanced IT nations to secure superiority in the display market, experts are warning that for Korea to retain its No. 1 ranking in liquid crystal digital (LCD) mass production, we should graft technology innovation and new technology on mass production. Notably, as large-scale investment in the seventh-generation lines of Samsung Electronics at Tangjeong and LG Philips LCDs at Paju is already well under way, Korea is forecasted to retain dominance of the LCD market in the years to come as well. Kim Yong-Bae, Director of the New Growth Engine Display Center (who concurrently serves as professor of the Natural Sciences Division, Department of Chemistry, Konkuk University) insists that Korea should foster this market with the technology of mass production for cost reduction, early localization of parts, and early localization of equipment. In a special interview with the Korea IT Times on the occasion of the opening of the Semiconductor & Display Exhibition 2005 (SEDEX 2005), the Director said that the Center's ultimate goal is to attain low cost and high quality. Seventh-generation lines in Tangjeong and Paju First of all, Professor Kim said that he believed that Korean companies had the capacity to invest in this industry, explaining that Samsung and L.G Philips LCD are investing in their seventh generation lines in Tangjeong and Paju respectively on a large scale. The professor insisted that founded upon these two bases, a powerful cluster for the parts materials and equipment industry has to be created in Gyeonggi Province and in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. This cluster will enable to reduce logistics costs considerably and facilitate technology coordination, he said. In reality, Tangjeong and Paju have proven their competitiveness over the existing Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, in terms of logistics costs from a geopolitical standpoint. Kim noted that the two areas could serve as a gateway to the world, since Paju and Tangjeong are adjacent to Incheon and Pyeongtaek port respectively. Second, Kim stressed that securing and nurturing competent specialized manpower decides the competitiveness of this industry, explaining that technology development as well as cultivating special human resources are insufficient as domestic companies enlarge their new line investments, striving for global market domination. The professor said that there was an urgent need in particular to ensure a timely and adequate supply of human resources, in line with large-scale and intensive investment by large enterprises at home. Nurturing by interdisciplinary connection education. Referring to the importance of parts localization, the director explained that provided the New Growth Engine Display Center's technology development project is completed, parts localization would be boosted by 30-40 percent more than at present. Director Kim added that one of the Center's major goals is to play a coordinating role between the university, on the one hand and smaller and large companies, on the other. He pointed out that the stimulation of smaller companies is an invisible goal of the New Growth Engine Display Center. Korea leads the world display market As to China and Taiwan's display industry competitiveness, the director assessed that China is posing a rapidly growing threat to Korean companies thanks to their government's support, as well as being a stronghold as a display production base through cooperation with foreign companies. Taiwan also is coming to the fore as the biggest challenger to Korea's display industry, as it is growing rapidly with strong government support such as all sorts of tax reductions and exemptions, active R&D investment. There is also no shortage of fund investment on the basis of abundant funding power as it is the word's leading base for PC manufacturing.