LG Display has been chosen by the government to lead a project to develop transparent and flexible organic light-emitting diode displays.

Korea’s second-largest display-panel maker said that it will develop proprietary technology for ultra high-definition, 60-inch flexible OLED displays by 2017 as part of the government’s “Future Flagship Program” to promote next-generation technologies.

The company will lead a consortium, which includes Avaco, an equipment maker for display production, for the development of the flexible OLED.

It will also seek to apply the transparent flexible OLED into other product applications, which can be used, for instance, as a window displaying information at bus stations, aquariums and retail stores.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which is spearheading this program, is aiming to achieve exports worth $56 billion and create 840,000 jobs through the research and development of transparent and flexible displays, LG Display said.

OLED has been chosen as one of the key technologies the government seeks to further develop by strengthening the industry’s R&D capability.

LG Display said that the project will be able to further widen the technological gap between Korea and the fast-growing economy of China in the display sector.

The other industrial sector the government has chosen in its Future Flagship Program is offshore plant for marine energy exploration, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Korea’s leading shipbuilders such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and construction companies including GS Engineering & Construction will be working on the research and development of offshore plant technology.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)