South Korea and Germany have agreed to establish a joint research and development (R&D) center to further promote bilateral cooperation and penetrate deeper into new lucrative industries such as material and part industries, Seoul's trade ministry said Wednesday.

The state-run Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and NRW.INVEST, an investment promotion agency of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, signed a memorandum of understanding to build the new research center there in the first half of 2020, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The agreement came in line with Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo's visit to Germany, as South Korea seeks to broaden ties with tech-savvy nations to help nurture its material, parts and equipment industries.

The new drive especially came as Japan implemented export curbs of key industrial materials to South Korea starting in July, in an apparent retaliation against a Seoul court ruling that ordered Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of wartime forced labors during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The new center will help South Korean companies forge new partnerships with German research institutions with core technologies of the material and parts industries, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)

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