Korea wants 12 percent global EV market share by 2030

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang during a meeting with the Korean automotive industry on Wednesday [YONHAP]

Korea's global EV market share will be increased to 12 percent by 2030 from the current 5 percent, the government has vowed.

It hopes the industry will achieve an annual production of 3.3 million units by then.

In order to achieve the goal, 95 trillion won ($65 billion) of funding will be raised over the next five years with the help of the auto industry, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Wednesday, while 30,000 experts in future cars will be trained.

Through a "fast but smooth transition," the Korean government aims to make its auto industry one of the world's top three.

While the details have to be ironed out, the government plans to increase funding for training, improve regulations and provide tax benefits to automakers, semiconductor developers and battery makers.

One of the key targets is to raise the number of automotive software coders to 10,000 by 2030.

The government has doubled its budget for relevant training from 10.5 billion won last year to 22.4 billion won this year. The money is spent on 2,233 individuals.

It hopes to double global market share in car chips to 6.6 percent by 2030.

The government and the private sector will also be working on the development of key technologies, including fast charge batteries — that can be 80 percent charged in 5 minutes — that will be able to power a car for 600 kilometers.

The government is aiming for commercialization of Level 4 autonomous vehicles by 2027. Level 5 cars are fully autonomous.

Support of tests sites was promised.

By 2030, about half of the vehicles in the world will be EVs. Korea produces 254,000 EVs annually, 5 percent of the world's total.

The government's mobility industry plan was released the day before U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visits Seoul, where the issue of U.S. market access for Korean EVs is front and center following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

"We are at a point where the private and public sectors have to work together to raise Korea's automotive industry to a higher level while overcoming difficulties, including the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act," said Minister Lee Chang-yang during a roundtable with Korean automotive and IT companies on Wednesday.

"The strategy announced today offers the direction in which our automobile industry strategy has to head towards," Lee said. "We plan to work on policy details through continuous communication with the private sector."

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]