Korea vows to restructure R&D budget

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Daedeok R&D Special Zone’s future vision. [Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

The South Korean government vowed to uphold the three principles of selectivity, focus, and greater efficacy for the national research and development (R&D) budget during the deliberation process at the National Assembly. With these principles, the government aims to revamp the R&D budget to improve the low-cost performance ratio and put it back on track despite the growing backlash from stakeholders and opposition to the reform. But the government still plans to significantly increase the R&D budget in areas of national need.

“The R&D budget has been increasing rapidly and recklessly without a single restructuring due to its symbolic scale,” a senior government official said Sunday. “Reforms to eliminate R&D inefficiencies are inevitable.” According to an analysis of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data conducted by the Korea Institute of Science & Technology Evaluation Planning (KISTEP), the government’s R&D budget rose by 640 percent between 2000 and 2021, far outpacing Japan’s 376 percent (second place) and Germany’s 318 percent (third place).

It took 11 years for the Korean national R&D budget to exceed 20 trillion won in 2019, after topping 10 trillion won ($7.62 billion) back in 2008.

On the other hand, it took only three years for the R&D budget to exceed 30 trillion won after hitting the 20 trillion won milestone. Although the R&D budget increased by more than 3 trillion won for the second consecutive year in 2020 and 2021, it has been criticized for failing to produce tangible results. The R&D budget is often cited as a prime example of “high cost, low efficiency” policies.

There is also a growing consensus within the scientific community that it is time to eliminate inefficiencies in budget execution and focus funding on the right areas of research.

“The government’s policy to improve budget inefficiency is a step in the right direction, as the budget has been continuously increasing and it is time to think about efficient allocation,” National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) chairperson Kim Bok-chul said. He believes that the project-based system (PBS), which is how government-funded research institutes distribute their budgets, particularly needs to be improved.

Along with the restructuring, the government is also committed to expanding the budget for essential research areas.

“In the process of investigating the current status of the national R&D budget to further expand it, some expenditures have been adjusted,” Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Daedeok R&D Special Zone’s future vision on Thursday. “We are also aware of the concerns expressed by the research field.”

The government will continue to provide state funding for the R&D budget of original technologies, next-generation technologies, and leading advanced areas of research. It also plans to expand the budget for deep-tech fields including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous driving.