Cars, chips and cellphones have been the dynamos of the Korean economy for the past decades, helping it leap to rank as the world’s 11th largest.

This industrial model, however, may soon become outdated, as the world braces for a new, global technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the shape of every single industry. 

In its scale, scope and complexity, the coming 4th Industrial Revolution will be unlike the previous three that humankind has experienced before, says World Economic Forum’s founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab.

Building on the third -- the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century -- the fourth revolution is “characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres,” he said in January, ahead of this year‘s WEF forum held in Davos, Switzerland, on that specific topic.

For Korea, the looming industrial transformation poses both challenges and opportunities.

As its economy slows, with its backbone -- manufacturing -- weakening, the country is searching for a new growth engine.

The formidable rise of China in many conventional fields of manufacturing where Korea has been leading is one of the reasons why Korea must migrate to the next-generation industries, according to Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan.

“In many fields, China has already risen to be dominant and will continue to rise,” he said in a forum last month on Jejudo Island, off the south of the peninsula.

“In the coming fourth revolution, only companies that respond quickly to the changes will prevail. The survival of Korean companies will depend on how fast they adapt.”

Large companies such as Samsung Electronics are already betting heavily on emerging technologies, but Korea, as a country, must make strategic choices to nurture future industries, experts say.

“We don’t know how the future will unfold, but must take a bet from what looks promising now,” said Chang Ha-joon, an economics professor at Cambridge University in the U.K.

The government, at least in meetings, appears to be moving in that direction.

In a meeting Tuesday presided over by President Park Geun-hye, the country’s top economic and industrial policymakers confirmed a national focus on nine fields, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, smart cities enabled by the “Internet of Things” and biotechnology. They also endorsed a plan to invest 2.2 trillion won in the selected nine sectors over the next decade; 1.6 trillion won of that money is envisioned to come from state coffers.

“We have to act now to remodel our economy for the coming era. If we miss this timing and start late, it may be almost impossible for us to catch up,” President Park said in the meeting.

“I am feeling a bit hard-pressed for time,” she added.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)