Planning Strategies for the Enhancement of the R&D System in Korea

R&D is a core element for the transition to an innovative economic system in Korea. This is because R&D can lead technology innovation by applying creative ideas to products and processes and adopting new science technologies.Recognizing the importance of the R&D role, the Korean government not only increases R&D investment annually, but also focuses on quality improvement through select and concentration strategy. The latter point is very important, because the economic growth rate has become low and the foreign economic environment is also uncertain, which makes global technology competition more intensifying. That means that the strategic approach becomes more important in terms of the economic impact and the policy efficiency of R&D investment.In Korea, the science technology infrastructures are weak, the technology development capabilities are deeply unbalanced among R&D actors, and moreover there exist difficulties in accessing R&D HRs and funds. These weaknesses of the interior technology innovation abilities cause low qualitative levels of R&D performances and technology balance of trade deficits. These weak R&D abilities would also not activate the commercialization linkages as well as cooperation with foreign economic actors and among the industry, academy, and institute, and the technology startups. Furthermore, there are not many cases of breakthrough technology developments due to the shortage of creative and challenging research, which necessitates R&D with big economic spillover.This paper, first, examines the current status of R&D carried out by the public and private sector, and addresses the issues and problems at each stage of the R&D process. Through the examination of phased problems, secondly, this paper draws up measures to intensify policy linkage in the total-periodic view. Finally, this paper suggests several measures to enhance the policy effect by improving the efficiency of the R&D management system