Seoul: The government has officially designated Korea Zinc Co.'s high-purity zinc smelting technology as a "national key technology," adding it to a list of critical technologies that require prior review before any overseas transfers, as announced by the industry ministry.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has revised a government notice to include the world's largest zinc smelter's low-temperature, low-pressure hematite process for zinc smelting as a national core technology. This process is crucial for refining high-purity zinc by effectively removing impurities from zinc concentrate. The ministry highlighted the technology's economic and environmental benefits, along with its potential to decrease the country's dependency on foreign sources, as key reasons for its designation.

In addition to Korea Zinc's smelting technology, the government has also designated other technologies as national key technologies. These include the design and manufacturing technology for ultra high-capacitance multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and the fabrication and signal processing technology for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payloads with resolutions below 1 meter. National key technologies are defined as those that could pose significant risks to national security or the national economy if exposed internationally, thus requiring special government oversight.

Companies that possess these technologies must seek government approval for any potential foreign acquisitions. The new designation, aligned with the revision to the government notice, will become effective after the necessary administrative notice period, according to the ministry's statement.