New ETRI President Park Presents Vision of Mutual Prosperity through AI and DX Innovation

Park Se-woong speaks about the ETRI’s future in his inaugural ceremony. (Photos: ETRI)

Park Se-woong took office as the 11th President of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). Park is an ICT expert who has led research, education, and industry-academia-research collaboration in the fields of telecommunications networks, AI and ICT.

The ETRI announced that it held an inauguration ceremony for its new president, Park Se-woong, on May 20 at the main auditorium. In his inaugural address, President Park presented the vision of creating a world of mutual prosperity through AI and DX innovation.

Park stated that he would lead the ETRI’s sustainable growth based on human-centered values and empower the ETRI to play its roles as a national intelligence innovation engine as a full-cycle AI and ICT R&D platform.

To this end, Park explained that he would focus on promoting the following: strengthening national mission-oriented R&D; developing and standardizing core technologies for AI-Native 6G and satellite communications; concentrating on strategic fields such as secure AGI, sovereign AI, and on-device AI; expanding research on 3D spatial media and physical AI; and realizing AI and DX in the public and industrial sectors.

Moreover, for management innovation, Park will pursue the following: operating borderless player projects that lower barriers among departments; creating creative and challenging research environments where experience of failure can be utilized as assets; transitioning to high-value-added IP management; expanding open R&D cooperation with universities and colleges, state-run research institutes, and industry; and strengthening regional win-win cooperation platforms based on regional research headquarters.

Leading International Standardization of AI-Based Smart Cities

The ETRI announced on June 16 that it led the establishment of the AI-based Smart Sustainable Cities and Communities Focus Group (FG-AI4SSC) at the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T) SG20 General Assembly recently held in Geneva, Switzerland, and that Lee Jun-seop, head of the ETRI’s Convergence Standards Research Division, was appointed as the inaugural chairman.

The ITU-T SG20 is a research group in charge of international standards in the fields of the internet of things (IoT), digital twins, and smart cities.

Currently, ETRI research specialist Kim Hyung-jun has been serving as the group’s chairman since 2022, leading international standardization activities.

The newly launched FG-AI4SSC is an international standardization consultative body that discusses how to connect and integrate AI technologies used in various urban services, such as transportation, energy, the environment, and safety.

In particular, the goal is to establish a common standard framework that enables the efficient operation of an entire city by connecting different urban services and digital systems using AI.

By securing the inaugural chairmanship of the newly established focus group, the ETRI has secured a key position to lead future discussions on international standards.

ETRI researchers concentrating on the development of ultra-high-resolution LEDOS display technology.

Development of Ultra-Fine Bonding Technology for AI and XR Displays

The ETRI announced on June 11 that it succeeded in developing ultra-high-resolution light emitting diode on silicon (LEDOS) display technology which is drawing much attention as a key display for the AI and XR era and ultra-precision laser bonding technology that implements it.

This research achievement was announced at the world’s largest display conference, “SID Display Week 2026” and received international recognition for its technological excellence by winning the People’s Choice Award in the micro LED field.

The technology developed this time is 2500 PPI ultra-high-density micro LED display technology for AI and XR convergence intelligent visual interfaces, and an ultra-precision laser bonding process to realize it.

The research team secured an ultra-high-density bonding technology capable of stably bonding approximately 920,000 bumps in a 10 µm pitch environment.

This level requires a much higher level of integration than an approximately 20 µm pitch and around 200,000 bumps of HBM4 chips which are currently in the spotlight as a core technology for AI semiconductors.