Area Development
The government of South Korea has unveiled a plant to invest 99.4 trillion won, or approximately US$87 billion, over the next five years to boost the economy and create jobs in 22 new growth sectors, according to Agence France-Presse. Government officials expect 880,000 new jobs to be created from the investment, which will be implemented in three phases. Media convergence, cultural contents, product design, software, next-generation semiconductors, information technology, and marine industries will be developed over the next five years. Advanced mobile communications, fuel cells, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, radio frequency identification tags (RFID), nuclear reactors, displays, and healthcare technology are slated for development over a decade. Greenhouse gas retrieval and use, new medicine, industrial materials, robotics, marine biofuel, non-polluting coal, and environmentally friendly automobiles are expected to take more than 10 years to develop.