S.Korea to allocate 70% of annual R&D budget to eleven core tech areas

The South Korean government plans to allocate 70% of its annual R&D budget to 40 projects for research and development in eleven core industrial areas, including semiconductors, displays, secondary batteries and future mobility.

The 11 core investment areas consist of semiconductors, displays, secondary batteries, future mobility, critical materials, intelligent robots, advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, next-generation nuclear energy, advanced bio and energy new business.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Monday that it discussed and finalized the "Industrial Transformation Super Project," which focuses on these provisions, at the CTO roundtable attended by nine chief technology officers from leading companies and heads of four government institutions held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, led by Deputy Minister Jang Young-jin.

The "Super Project" is being sought in three main directions: First, the government and private sector will jointly define clear goals and investment directions for each field, and then concentrate investments in strategic projects.

The government plans to invest 70% of its annual new R&D budget in these projects. It aims to invest 6.2 trillion won ($4.7 billion) from 2023 to 2027 through follow-up feasibility studies, discovering new businesses, and utilizing new tasks for continuing businesses. The plan is to invest 13.5 trillion won ($10.2 billion) by 2030.

Write to Han-Shin Park at phs@hankyung.com