Lee Young-hee, an HCR distinguished professor at South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University and a world authority on next-generation semiconductor and battery technology—has been appointed at Hubei University of Technology in China, where he is leading semiconductor and quantum research institutes. After retiring from the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) where he served as director of the Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics, Professor Lee was apparently unable to find a stable research position in Korea and thus chose to move to China according to news sources.
Before this, in 2023, theoretical physicist Lee Ki-myung, former vice president of the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), also moved to China after retirement, becoming a professor at the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BIMSA). Professors Lee Young-hee and Lee Ki-myung were selected as Korea’s first and second National Scholars in 2005 and 2006 respectively by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea but could not secure positions domestically.
The IBS research center led by Professor Lee since 2012 achieved significant results in CNTs, graphene, water-splitting catalysts, and two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor research. Professor Lee had been among the world’s top 1% most-cited researchers since 2018. However, with his mandatory retirement at the end of 2023, the center was disbanded.
About 20 researchers scattered to domestic and international universities and research institutions. Professor Lee continued his research as a distinguished (non-tenured) professor at Sungkyunkwan University, but this contract also ends in August. Professor Lee reportedly submitted research project proposals to the Ministry of Science and ICT, trying to continue his work in Korea, but was unsuccessful. He declined to comment when contacted by JoongAng Ilbo. After recruiting Professor Lee, Hubei University of Technology established a 16,000㎡ (about 4,850 pyeong) Low-dimensional Quantum Materials (LQM) Research Institute. The university is now recruiting researchers, offering a package including “a world-renowned research team led by Professor Lee, state-of-the-art research equipment, a salary of 260,000 yuan (around 50 million KRW), plus separate funding for living and entrepreneurship.” Research areas include 2D semiconductors and solar cells. China’s Surging Engineering Talent Amid U.S. Sanctions China’s enthusiasm for R&D, such as building research institutes to recruit Korean scholars, is nothing new.
Chinese semiconductor companies like Huawei and Cambricon are posing growing threats. Although the U.S. is blocking exports of advanced GPUs and equipment, China’s engineering workforce is countering the sanctions through innovations in design, materials, and algorithms.
China’s R&D ambitions may surpass Korea’s dominance in memory semiconductors.
Last month, a Chinese state media report claiming that Samsung Electronics uses bonding patents from Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) caused a stir. However, industry and academic experts in Korea said it was “not surprising.” A domestic memory company researcher commented, “YMTC was the first to apply bonding technology in mass production among memory makers. Their R&D speed is frightening because they have so many Ph.D.-level engineers.”
Here is a list of SOME of his major research and papers authored by him and his co-authors:
| Title | Cited by | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Crystalline ropes of metallic carbon nanotubesA Thess, R Lee, P Nikolaev, H Dai, P Petit, J Robert, C Xu, YH Lee, …science 273 (5274), 483-487 | 8414 | 1996 |
| Recent development of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides and their applicationsW Choi, N Choudhary, GH Han, J Park, D Akinwande, YH LeeMaterials Today 20 (3), 116-130 | 2818 | 2017 |
| Efficient reduction of graphite oxide by sodium borohydride and its effect on electrical conductanceHJ Shin, KK Kim, A Benayad, SM Yoon, HK Park, IS Jung, MH Jin, …Advanced Functional Materials 19 (12), 1987-1992 | 2766 | 2009 |
| Dense dislocation arrays embedded in grain boundaries for high-performance bulk thermoelectricsSI Kim, KH Lee, HA Mun, HS Kim, SW Hwang, JW Roh, DJ Yang, …Science 348 (6230), 109-114 | 2101 | 2015 |
| Fully sealed, high-brightness carbon-nanotube field-emission displayWB Choi, DS Chung, JH Kang, HY Kim, YW Jin, IT Han, YH Lee, JE Jung, …Applied physics letters 75 (20), 3129-3131 | 1986 | 1999 |
| Evidence of graphitic AB stacking order of graphite oxidesHK Jeong, YP Lee, RJWE Lahaye, MH Park, KH An, IJ Kim, CW Yang, …Journal of the American Chemical Society 130 (4), 1362-1366 | 1268 | 2008 |
| Phase patterning for ohmic homojunction contact in MoTe2S Cho, S Kim, JH Kim, J Zhao, J Seok, DH Keum, J Baik, DH Choe, …Science 349 (6248), 625-628 | 1228 | 2015 |
| Electrochemical properties of high‐power supercapacitors using single‐walled carbon nanotube electrodesKH An, WS Kim, YS Park, JM Moon, DJ Bae, SC Lim, YS Lee, YH LeeAdvanced functional materials 11 (5), 387-392 | 1198 | 2001 |
| Effect of acid treatment on carbon nanotube-based flexible transparent conducting filmsHZ Geng, KK Kim, KP So, YS Lee, Y Chang, YH LeeJournal of the American Chemical Society 129 (25), 7758-7759 | 1102 | 2007 |
| Synthesis of large‐area graphene layers on poly‐nickel substrate by chemical vapor deposition: wrinkle formationSJ Chae, F Güneş, KK Kim, ES Kim, GH Han, SM Kim, HJ Shin, SM Yoon, …Advanced materials 21 (22), 2328-2333 | 1093 | 2009 |
| Bandgap opening in few-layered monoclinic MoTe2DH Keum, S Cho, JH Kim, DH Choe, HJ Sung, M Kan, H Kang, JY Hwang, …Nature Physics 11 (6), 482-486 | 1065 | 2015 |
| Bandgap engineering of two-dimensional semiconductor materialsA Chaves, JG Azadani, H Alsalman, DR Da Costa, R Frisenda, AJ Chaves, …npj 2D Materials and Applications 4 (1), 29 | 1022 | 2020 |
| Supercapacitors using single‐walled carbon nanotube electrodesKH An, WS Kim, YS Park, YC Choi, SM Lee, DC Chung, DJ Bae, SC Lim, …Advanced Materials 13 (7), 497-500 | 891 | 2001 |
| Asymmetric Supercapacitors Based on Graphene/MnO2 Nanospheres and Graphene/MoO3 Nanosheets with High Energy DensityJ Chang, M Jin, F Yao, TH Kim, VT Le, H Yue, F Gunes, B Li, A Ghosh, …Advanced Functional Materials 23 (40), 5074-5083 | 766 | 2013 |
| Carbon‐based electrochemical capacitorsA Ghosh, YH LeeChemSusChem 5 (3), 480-499 | 672 | 2012 |
| Enhanced sensitivity of a gas sensor incorporating single‐walled carbon nanotube–polypyrrole nanocompositesKH An, SY Jeong, HR Hwang, YH LeeAdvanced Materials 16 (12), 1005-1009 | 655 | 2004 |
| Synthesis of large-area multilayer hexagonal boron nitride for high material performanceSM Kim, A Hsu, MH Park, SH Chae, SJ Yun, JS Lee, DH Cho, W Fang, …Nature communications 6 (1), 8662 | 616 | 2015 |
| Hydrogen storage in single-walled carbon nanotubesSM Lee, YH LeeApplied Physics Letters 76 (20), 2877-2879 | 600 | 2000 |
| van der Waals layered materials: opportunities and challengesDL Duong, SJ Yun, YH LeeACS nano 11 (12), 11803-11830 | 597 | 2017 |
| Room Temperature Semiconductor–Metal Transition of MoTe2 Thin Films Engineered by StrainS Song, DH Keum, S Cho, D Perello, Y Kim, YH LeeNano letters 16 (1), 188-193 |
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer representing doctors, nurses and therapists who have become whistleblowers reporting Medicare and Medicaid fraud in False Claims Act (Qui Tam) cases. He also represents whistleblowers in tariff fraud cases and military contract fraud cases. also a frequent writer on issues relating to events affecting the world economy. Jeff can be reached at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com or at 617-823-3217
