LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading electric vehicle battery maker, will invest 475.4 billion won ($400 million) in cathode materials plant, the trade ministry said Wednesday.

LG Chem will set up LG Battery Core Material to produce 60,000 tons a year of cathode materials and create 187 jobs for three years, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement.

The company plans to begin construction of the plant in Gumi, 260 kilometers south of Seoul, next month with an aim to produce the material from 2024, an LG Chem spokesman said.

LG Chem currently has two domestic cathode materials plants, in Cheongju and Iksan, and one in Wuxi, China. The three plants have a combined output capacity of 80,000 tons a year of cathode materials.

Cathode materials are the main component of lithium ion batteries used in electric vehicles, handsets and other electronic gadgets. (Yonhap)