South Korea’s government R&D budget surged from 4 trillion won in 2000 to over 30 trillion won in 2023, a more than sevenfold increase that surpasses the growth rates of Japan, Germany, and the United States.
However, a report from the National Assembly Futures Institute notes that this dramatic increase has not translated into higher-quality research outcomes.
Despite the scale-up, international competitiveness indicators improved only marginally, moving from 29th in 2005 to 27th in 2025. Of the 71,804 projects funded in 2023, nearly half were small-scale projects with budgets under 100 million won, and labour costs accounted for an average of 24.4% of the project budgets. The report highlighted that once labour costs are excluded, actual research expenditure is minimal, pointing to inefficiency in funding allocation.
While approximately 60% of Korean research papers are government-supported, Korea’s share of global publications remains low at 2.35%, with a corresponding citation rate of 2.23%. Patent outputs have increased, but only about 15% of these stem from government R&D, with universities lagging behind research institutes and corporations.
The report recommends an overhaul of grant structures and university support systems to improve research quality and efficiency.
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