1.4 Tril. Won for Basic Research
The Korean government will spend a total of 19.7 trillion won on national research and development (R&D) projects this year. This is a 1.1 percent increase from last year's budget of 19.5 trillion won.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on June 25 that it has opened a steering committee of the Third National Science and Technology Advisory Council at the government complex in Gwacheon and confirmed the implementation plan for the Fourth Science and Technology Basic Plan (2018-2022).
Under the plan, support for basic research will gradually increase. It will invest 1.42 trillion won in basic research projects, 160 billion won more than last year's budget (1.26 trillion won). The budget for this sector will be gradually increased to be 2.52 trillion won by 2022, which will be double the budget of last year.
According to the plan, 1.33 trillion won will be allocated to nurturing 13 innovative growth engines such as big data, next generation communication, artificial intelligence, autonomous traveling vehicle, drone, customized health care, smart city, virtual augmented reality, intelligent robot, intelligent semiconductor, advanced materials, innovative new medicine, and renewable energy. The government plans to invest a total of 9 trillion won in these fields for the next five years until 2022.