Keynote Speakers

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Keynote Speakers

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2025 Int’l Battery Technology Future in Saemangeum

Kim Seong-ho
Saemangeum Development & Investment Agency(SIDA)
SeongHo Kim
Director General of Development Strategy Bureau
· Topic
The Present and Future of the Saemangeum Global Battery Ecosystem
· Profile
Current: Director General for Development Strategy, Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency (SDIA)
Former: Director, Architecture Policy Division, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT)
Former: Director, Real Estate Development Policy Division, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT)
Myunghwan Kim
Director of Next-Generation Battery Strategy Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT)
The First National Distinguished Research Fellow , Former President & CPO of LG Energy Soulution
Myunghwan Kim
Director, Next-Generation Battery Strategy Center
· Topic
Powering a Sustainable Future, The Role of Next-Generation Batteries
· Profile
(2025–Present) Director, Next-Generation Battery Strategy Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT)
Leading the government-funded consortium project, the “Next-Generation Secondary Battery Global TOP Strategy Research Group,” comprising seven research institutes
(2025) National Distinguished Research Fellow — Korea’s first appointee,
(2024–Present) Advisor, LG Energy Solution
(2020–2023) President & CPO, LG Energy Solution
(2005–2019) Head of Battery Research Institute, LG Chem — Pioneered global lithium-ion battery R&D and commercialization
B.S. in Industrial Chemistry (Seoul National University), M.S. in Chemical Process Engineering (KAIST), Ph.D. in Polymer Engineering (University of Akron, USA)
(2022) Recipient of Order of Science and Technology Merit (Ungbi Medal, 2013) and Jang Young Sil Hall of Fame Inductee
Cameron Russell Perks
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Cameron Russell Perks
Product Director-Lithium
· Topic
Battery Geopolitics: implications of international relations and global policy shifts for the battery industry
· Profile
Product Director for Lithium at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
A leading global lithium expert with over a decade of experience in opaque mineral markets
Has led market strategy, pricing analysis, and bespoke consulting for clients ranging from junior explorers to OEMs and institutional investors
Formerly a consultant at TZMI and a geologist with the Geological Survey of NSW
Holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering

View Presentation Summary

  • Discover Saemangeum: The Emerging Global Hub for the Battery Industry
  • Saemangeum is rapidly emerging as a new global hub for the secondary battery industry. As Korea’s largest national development project, it is comprehensively managed by the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency (SDIA) in collaboration with central government ministries, Jeonbuk State, and local municipalities including Gunsan, Gimje, and Buan. This multi-level cooperation has made Saemangeum a convergence point of national capabilities and innovation.
  • Strategically located with an integrated network of air, sea, rail, and expressway infrastructure, Saemangeum serves as a logistics and transportation nexus. Furthermore, the designation and operation of an Investment Promotion Zone provide attractive incentives, fostering a business-friendly environment. These efforts have led to a remarkable ₩12 trillion (USD ~8.5 billion) in investment attraction over the past three years.
  • Notably, about 40% of the companies in the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex are engaged in the battery materials sector, including cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes. This concentration of key players is establishing Saemangeum as Korea’s specialized cluster for the secondary battery industry.
  • Looking ahead, Saemangeum aims to expand beyond material and component production to build a complete ecosystem encompassing batteries, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems (ESS). Through the creation of an RE100-based industrial complex, Saemangeum seeks to position itself as a uniquely sustainable and competitive global hub. To achieve this vision, the government, local authorities, private companies, universities, and research institutions are working together through a strong, collaborative governance framework.

View Presentation Summary

  • Secondary batteries are the “heart” of sustainable technologies, powering EVs, ESS, and future systems like humanoid robots, drones, and UAM. With ESS demand expected to triple by 2035, driven by renewable energy and AI data centers, global reliance on advanced batteries is accelerating. While China leads the supply chain, future competitiveness hinges on next-generation chemistries—solid-state, lithium-metal, lithium-sulfur, sodium-ion—and innovations such as dry electrodes and AI-based smart factories. Overcoming challenges in safety, energy density, cost, and recycling will be key to achieving carbon neutrality and securing the future energy ecosystem

View Presentation Summary

  • Lithium sits at the centre of the global battery supply chain transition. As the key input for electric vehicles and energy storage, lithium reflects the broader forces shaping critical minerals: supply cycles, pricing volatility, technological disruption, and geopolitical competition.
  • New supply is emerging from Africa alongside established sources in Australia, South America, and China. These entrants promise diversification but also bring risks around financing, execution, and governance. The ability of the global supply chain to integrate these new feedstocks will define its resilience.
  • Technology is shifting the competitive landscape. Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) offers potential to unlock unconventional brines and reduce environmental impacts, though it remains early stage. Recycling, modest today, will grow in importance as end-of-life material enters the system, lowering costs and supporting supply security.
  • Geopolitics plays an increasingly decisive role. Governments are shaping flows of critical minerals, while offtake agreements with Korean companies such as LG, SK, Ecopro, POSCO, and Hyundai are linking upstream miners with global manufacturing hubs. These agreements function as industrial strategy as much as commercial dealmaking.
  • The Australia–Korea partnership illustrates this dynamic: Australia’s resources combined with Korea’s manufacturing and recycling expertise highlight the interdependence driving the energy transition.
  • This presentation will show how lithium provides a case study for the battery industry at large; an industry where geology, technology, and strategy intersect to define the next decade of supply chain evolution.

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