CURRENT KOREAN RD AND INVESTMENT STRATEGIES IN RESPONSE TO REE DEMAND SUPPLY CONCERNS

摘要

Rare metals have become a critical issue due to their dramatic increase in industrial use as well as their rarity. Depending on the ratio of the demand and supply of each rare metal element in a nation, the number and specific criticality of each rare metal is defined differently. For example, in Korea 35 elements are deemed critical, whereas 33 elements are considered critical in the USA. Since the rare metals become critical in a way of rarity, each nation have and are making efforts to assure themselves of supply-demand solutions. In 2010, Korea launched a ten-year, industry-wide initiative based on the Rare Metals Strategy announced in 2009. The initiative includes three main courses of actions: securing the elements through exploration and recycling systems, promoting R&D activity on the material value chain by supporting government and enterprises, and establishing the infrastructure to support rare metal industries. As the results of the plan, the Korean Institute for Rare Metals (KIRAM) was established, and funded USD 15 million R&BD programs were launched for five years from 2010. - One of the important actions taken by KIRAM was to organize a global network as well as a domestic network on rare metals. The global network was launched in April 2011 in Incheon, Korea with the aim of exchanging the international cooperation on rare metals and the establishment of international committee. Eight countries, including Canada, China, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, USA, UK and Korea are involved. For the domestic network, rare metals industries, urban mining societies and publicly supported authorities are being coordinated to develop industrial technology on rare metal. This paper will discuss some of the trends and Korea's strategies related to rare metals R&D in industry and academia.