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Strategic Future Industry
While advanced countries are making
massive investments in R&D in the optical sector as
a strategic future industry, Korea ranks
10th in the world in photonics at present. Its total
trade in the sector in the first nine
months of last year was US$10.2 billion, breaking down
into exports of US$5.3 billion and imports
of US$4.9 billion.
Kwangju--Center of Excellence in Photonics
Based on a high-tech national promotion
program, which includes developing a national
center of excellence for photonics in
Kwangju, expanding international cooperation in the
field and organizing an annual world-class
comprehensive photonics exhibition, Korea
plans to become the fifth-ranked country
for photonics in the world by 2010.
Focus on Int'l Cooperation
While developing its own center of excellence
for photonics, Korea is looking abroad for
international exchanges and cooperation
to complement its domestic development program.
There are three main aspects to its
international program - benchmarking, overseas training
of domestic specialists and exchanges
with related international organizations and attracting
international specialists to work in
Korea.
The benchmarking of leading countries
in the field includes analyses of trends, products
and markets. |
A Driving Force for Korea 
