Vice Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon speaks during a ‘Ministry of Science and ICT press briefing’ held at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong Special Self-Governing City on the morning of the 20th. Courtesy of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Bae Kyung-hoon, Vice Minister and concurrently Minister of Science and ICT, stressed the need to accelerate institutional reform to narrow the gap between the announcement of science and technology policies and their actual implementation. He said the time lag before policies are applied in the field must be reduced so that researchers can truly feel the changes.
At a press briefing marking his first year in office, held at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City on the 20th, Minister Bae said, “Even when policies are announced, they often do not take effect in the same year but only in the following year, and it seems that gaps and misunderstandings arise in between,” adding, “We should quickly implement the parts where we can speed up.”
During the briefing, participants pointed out that, despite many changes such as the abolition of the Project-Based System (PBS) for research tasks, outdated systems are still in place. Voices from the field called for improving rigid research systems and culture, including applying the 52-hour workweek to research sites and blind recruitment triggered by designating the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) as a “other public institution” under Korea’s public-sector classification system.
First Vice Minister of Science and ICT Koo Hyuk-chae said, “The research and development (R&D) ecosystem is tightly intertwined across companies, research institutes, government-funded research institutes, and universities,” and added, “Because research projects run for three years at the shortest and up to five years, it takes time to restore the ecosystem and improve the system.”
Regarding the abolition of the Project-Based System (PBS), Vice Minister Koo explained, “We are steadily working on change by converting a budget of around 400 billion won every year until 2030.” On the issues of the 52-hour workweek at research sites and IBS being designated as an “other public institution,” he said, “Even if the pace is slow, we will deal with them one by one.”
In response, Minister Bae emphasized that not only institutional reform itself but also the timing of implementation needs to be brought forward. “The government may think that a policy is already set to be implemented, but in the field, people do not feel the change, so the same problems keep being raised,” he said, adding, “It is important to reduce the gap between policy and implementation.”
He also asked that government science and technology policy not be judged solely on isolated elements, given that it is organically connected to many sectors. “I hope people do not look at government policy only in cross-section,” he said. “Rather than first fixing the direction the government wants and then gathering experts to find justification, we are trying from the outset to listen to needs in the field.”
He continued, “We are shaping a single policy direction through countless meetings and informal discussions with experts,” and explained, “We go through a process of gathering diverse opinions, deciding on the optimal direction, and persuading stakeholders.”
The Ministry of Science and ICT also plans to diversify R&D support methods, shifting from the existing grant-based approach to ‘investment-type R&D,’ in which the government shares both investment risk and returns.
Park In-kyu, head of the Office of Science, Technology and Innovation, explained that as of 2024, about 7 trillion won—around 25% of total government R&D funding—was provided to corporate R&D. However, under the existing model where the government gives grants to companies and receives royalty income in return, royalties amounted to only about 1% of the support provided.
The ministry is reviewing mechanisms in which the government contributes equity to a special purpose company (SPC) or invests directly in projects and then shares the outcomes of R&D. If R&D succeeds, the government would receive equity or co-invest with the private sector through a separate fund.
Minister Bae said, “When the government channels large-scale investment into specific companies in the form of projects, it can spark various controversies,” and added, “By using equity investment or setting up SPCs, the idea is to move away from the model of funneling government projects to particular firms, and instead have the government also take responsibility and participate in the process of generating outcomes.”
Support for technology commercialization will also be expanded. The government plans to extend KAIST’s startup support model to other institutes of science and technology, and, rather than relying only on the National Growth Fund, will utilize the Ministry of Science and ICT’s AI Innovation Fund, the Korea IT Fund (KIF), and funds of the Korea Post to manage a total of 2 trillion won in financing.
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