Korea approves 2.17 trillion won fusion, marine reactor and display projects

The science ministry said Thursday that three major state research projects worth a combined 2.17 trillion won ($1.62 billion) cleared their preliminary feasibility studies, including a 1.48 trillion won ($1.1 billion) programme to build fusion demonstration infrastructure in Naju.

The decision, reached at a written meeting of the national R&D project evaluation committee chaired by Park In-kyu, head of the science and technology innovation office, also approved a 317 billion won ($236 million) marine molten salt reactor project and a 369 billion won ($275 million) advanced display platform.

The fusion programme, submitted under the fourth feasibility review of 2025, will run for 10 years from 2027 through 2036, with 1.29 trillion won ($960 million) of the total coming from the state. It calls for advancing core technologies, including reactor-core plasma, heating and current drive, superconducting magnets, tritium breeding blankets, fusion materials and the fuel cycle, to the point where they can be validated in conditions resembling a fusion reactor. A demonstration centre for those technologies is to be built in Naju.

Rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centres has made securing future energy technology more urgent, the ministry said. Government support so far has produced source technologies such as the K-STAR superconducting fusion research device, but commercialisation requires demonstration and performance testing.

The marine molten salt reactor project, submitted under the first feasibility review of 2026 and jointly pursued with the oceans ministry, will run from 2027 to 2030 with 225 billion won ($168 million) in state funding. The International Maritime Organization's tighter greenhouse gas targets have pushed shipping toward decarbonisation, and nuclear-powered vessels are being considered as one alternative. Molten salt reactors, which can operate at high temperature and low pressure and are suited to compact designs, are classified as a reactor type appropriate for marine use. The work covers reactor cores and systems, fuel and materials, and safety assessments for the reactor-ship interface.

The advanced display platform, led by the industry ministry, will run for seven years from 2027 to 2033 with 279 billion won ($208 million) in state funding. Research will focus on three technology themes: over-OLED, which seeks to overcome the performance limits of existing organic light-emitting diodes; cross-OLED, which combines multiple functions and technologies; and post-OLED as a next-generation successor. The project also covers construction of demonstration facilities spanning the full cycle from design to panel-level testing.

The three projects were among the last filed before Korea abolished preliminary feasibility studies for research and development under a 2026 institutional overhaul, making this the final such review. The committee met in writing from Nov. 3 to 5.

"Fusion and molten salt reactors are core technology fields included in the seven future strategic technology projects, and displays are an area in which we lead the global market," Park said. He said he had asked the responsible ministries to move the projects forward quickly so Korea can secure next-generation growth engines early.