LG Philips LCD, a global leader in the flat-screen display market, has broken ground for the world's largest flat-panel display production complex in South Korea.

Acting President Goh Kun was among some 1,500 government and company officials on hand at the ground-breaking ceremony held in Paju, north of Seoul.

The 1.6 million square-meter complex will include LCD production lines, a research and development center and other production facilities. Officials hope the mammoth complex will eventually serve as a hub for worldwide LCD shipments.

The company said it plans to invest 25 trillion won or some 22 billion U.S. dollars in the project over the next ten years. Officials say the complex will generate about 25 thousand jobs.

The company will be able to mass-produce thin film transistor-liquid crystal display panels when the first production line of the Paju plant becomes operational by 2006.

TFT-LCD panels are used for next-generation digital equipment, including mobile phones, large-size televisions and laptop computers.

LG Philips LCD is a South Korean-based joint venture between LG Electronics and Philips Electronics. The joint venture company took up the largest share of the TFT-LCD market last year at 21 percent.