Incandescent light bulbs could soon become a thing of the past. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy is pushing a "15-30" move aiming to replace 30%of lights in the country with more energy-efficient LEDs by the year 2015. The European Union and Australia have announced plans to ban sales of ordinary light bulbs and halogen lighting within the next four years.

Unlike incandescent lights, LED lamps can create a range of infrared, visible and ultraviolet light and can also express more than 16 million colors with a durability of 100,000 hours. That's quite an improvement over a halogen bulb's maximum of 6,000 hours. Sitching from ordinary lights to LED lamps can save W102 billion (US$1=W1,359) each year. Experts say LED lamps can be used as a substitute for sunlight and help control flowering and growth, while using only a third of the electricity of traditional lighting.

There is still some way to go before LEDs become a more common feature in Korean lives. But the government says Korea could become a leading nation in LED use and development, generating US$4 billion in exports and 30,000 jobs using the country's strong semiconductor industry as a springboard.