5% of Government Expenditure to Be Invested in R&D... Four Key Strategies for Technology-Driven Growth Announced

Five-Year Investment Strategy for Technology-Driven Growth
Four Key Strategies and Eight Core Tasks

The Ministry of Science and ICT has announced a five-year investment strategy to allocate approximately 5% of total government expenditure to research and development (R&D), in order to achieve the national goal of “technology-driven growth.”

Kim Youngsoo, Director of Research and Development Investment Planning, is presenting the key contents of the mid-to-long-term investment strategy. Ministry of Science and ICT.

On July 2, at Yangjae EL Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a public hearing to present this plan as part of efforts to establish the “2nd National Research and Development Mid-to-Long Term Investment Strategy.”

The mid-to-long term investment strategy is the highest-level statutory plan under the Framework Act on Science and Technology, outlining strategic investment objectives and directions for the national R&D budget over the next five years. While the 6th Basic Plan for Science and Technology, announced on June 26, sets out the scientific and technological goals and tasks of the Lee Jaemyung administration, the mid-to-long term investment strategy serves as a roadmap for investing to implement the basic plan.

During the public hearing, a roadmap was presented linking national missions, performance targets, annual milestones, and investment portfolios to realize technology-driven growth. Four key strategies and eight core tasks were announced. The roadmap also incorporates support for the three major “Korea Grand Leap” mega projects unveiled on June 29.

Park Inkyu, Chief of the Office for Science, Technology and Innovation, emphasized, “We need to broadly expand our core industries beyond semiconductors to include artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, nuclear, and space sectors,” adding, “This investment strategy serves as a blueprint for creating new engines of growth.”

Youngsoo Kim, Head of the Research and Development Investment Planning Division, introduced the principles behind the strategy and its detailed initiatives. The Ministry of Science and ICT prepared foundational data using AI analysis of 34 million scientific research papers from the past 30 years, as well as some 20 government science and technology policies, including state projects. Kim explained, “A total of 382 experts were involved, including 15 members of the General Committee, 13 technical subcommittees by field, and 10 specialist committees under the Science and Technology Advisory Council, ensuring both expertise and field-level insight.”

The four core strategies are: ▲ Focused development of core technologies ▲ Strengthening sovereignty over future technologies ▲ Reinforcing and expanding the ecosystem ▲ Efficiency based on trust. Technology types are divided into “core technologies” and “future technologies.” The plan is to expand investment-oriented R&D for core technologies and concentrate support on challenging R&D for future technologies.

For AI, the goal is to become third globally in capability, secure world-class models, and advance AI transformation (AX). For semiconductors, the aims are to achieve third place globally in system semiconductor market share and foster five semiconductor and display unicorn companies. Secondary batteries are targeting a return to the world’s top technical level; advanced mobility aims for commercialization of Level 4 autonomous driving. Advanced biotechnology seeks to develop two blockbuster new drugs; advanced robotics targets the mass production of humanoid robots. In energy, the target is to achieve a 40% reduction in national greenhouse gas emissions (NDC).

For basic research, the government plans to establish investment at 10% of total government R&D, and to develop at least five government-funded research institutes into world-leading research organizations.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, an expert panel discussion was held at the '2nd National R&D Mid-to-Long Term Investment Strategy Public Hearing' held at EL Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Ministry of Science and ICT.

During the panel discussion, chaired by Na Kyunghwan, Chair of the Mid-to-Long Term Investment Strategy General Committee, experts from each field evaluated the effectiveness of the roadmap and suggested areas for improvement. Panelists noted that for the strategy to translate into tangible outcomes, there must be linkage with the industrial ecosystem, and that investment directions should be clarified to help early-career researchers establish themselves in the field.

Shin Dongjoo, CEO of Mobilint, stated, “A plan that covers the entire AI ecosystem is necessary,” and explained that “investment strategies should be developed separately according to scenarios about the timeline and feasibility of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI).”

Kim Eunyi, Principal Researcher at Jeonnam Technopark, commented, “With increased R&D budgets in the regions, local governments will be able to formulate and invest in their own mid-to-long term strategies, which is promising.” She added, “I hope that support policies to secure local research talent and expertise will also be implemented in parallel.”

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to incorporate the various opinions raised during this public hearing to further refine the mid-to-long term investment strategy, with the aim of finalizing it through review and resolution at the National Science and Technology Advisory Council in August.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.