South Korean Government Investing in Musical Clothes

Technology-savvy South Korea isn’t happy making only MP3 players and the memory chips that go inside many of the more popular models. It also wants people wearing South Korean “smart” clothes with built-in digital music players.

The government is backing efforts to launch the digitized apparel by the end of the year, hoping to win a top position for the country as an exporter of such clothing.

“The research and development of smart clothing can’t be left up to the market only, because of its high risk. The government has taken the role of offsetting this risk,” Hwang Kyu-yearn, an official at the Commerce and Industry Ministry, said Wednesday, declining to elaborate on the government’s support to the industry.