Science ministry launches K-Moonshot semiconductor committees

The science ministry said it launched the operating and technical committees for the semiconductor mission under its K-Moonshot program at Dalgaebi in Seoul on Wednesday, bringing together about 20 industry, academic and research experts.

The mission aims to secure next-generation chip source technologies that overcome performance and power limits, pursuing a "memory-centric computing" paradigm and improved AI compute productivity. It will develop source technologies for ultra-fine semiconductors, next-generation stacked semiconductors represented by HBM, and integrated demonstrations at the system level.

The committees will be led by Kim Ji-young, the semiconductor program director, and will include experts from Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Jusung Engineering alongside the ministry and the National Research Foundation of Korea. The operating committee will establish and revise basic plans for related research and development projects and review and coordinate major initiatives, while the technical committee will support roadmap formulation, detailed project planning and progress checks.

"In the AI era, technology that organically connects semiconductor devices, memory, and integration and packaging technologies to innovate the performance and power efficiency of the entire system will determine national semiconductor competitiveness," said Kim Seong-su, director of the ministry's research and development policy office.

Wednesday's meeting was expected to focus on priorities and phased goals for core technologies, ways to link the mission with existing semiconductor R&D, and integrated demonstration plans reflecting industry demand.

Kim said the government will systematically pursue the K-Moonshot semiconductor mission to preemptively secure core source technologies for future chips and to ensure research results lead to competitiveness in the industrial field.