By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The government has set the goal of devoting 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to science research by 2012, aiming to put the country in a better position to excel in research and development (R&D).
In a policy report to President Lee Myung-bak, Tuesday, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology also vowed stronger innovative support in aerospace and nuclear power technology, two areas Korea hopes to convert into lucrative export engines.
Government spending on R&D will reach 13.6 trillion won (about $11.4 billion) in 2010, from 12.3 trillion won this year, with more than 40 percent of the budget saved for fundamental science and basic research, ministry officials said.
About 130 billion won will be invested to help research into nano materials and other nano-technology areas, while about 190 billion won will be used to support projects for drug development and stem-cell research.
To achieve cohesion between fundamental research and applied science, the ministry plans to finance joint projects between companies, schools and state-run research bodies and promote the industrial adoption of the innovations.
The government will also encourage companies to spend more on R&D and testing, by reducing red tape and making it easier for the firms to establish research centers.
Taxpayer money will also be spent on building or acquiring more advanced science equipment.
The government also wants to improve the technology for operating the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Reactor (KSTAR), the country's experimental nuclear fusion reactor.
It also suggested the establishment of two separate committees ― tentatively named the ``science technology policy committee'' and ``intellectual property committee'' ― to coordinate the technology research projects between different government agencies and better manage state-owned intellectual property.
The ministry is also vowing full backing of the country's movement toward green technology, planning to announce a comprehensive plan to train ``green engineers'' through a collaborative framework between businesses, schools and research institutes.
The targeted fields include solar energy, fuel cells and other renewable batteries solutions, and climate research.
The project to develop the country's second space rocket, Korea Space Launch Vehicle II (KSLV-II), is also to begin sometime during the second half of next year.
The government plans to spend around 1.5 trillion won (about $1.26 billion) on KSLV-II, which is to be completed sometime around 2019 and used for sending a 1.5-kilogram satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of somewhere between 600 to 800 kilometers.
The KSLV-I, the country's first space rocket, reached its desired height and speed during its Aug. 25 launch at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, but failed to deliver its payload satellite into orbit.
Unlike the KSLV-I, which relied on the technology of Russia's Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, KSLV-II is projected to be fully homemade.
The country also plans to launch an observation satellite, named the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite, by the first half of next year, to be used for communication purposes and weather monitoring, and another multi-purpose satellite by the end of 2010.
The nuclear energy sector was also promised further support, as the government expects the development of the country's mid-sized nuclear reactor, ``SMART,'' to be completed by 2011.
The success of SMART is considered critical for the country, which hopes to have a piece for the world's market for mid-sized reactors in the future.
Earlier this month, a consortium of the Korea Atomic Energy Institute (KAERI) and Daewoo Engineering and Construction won a bid to build Jordan's first small-scale nuclear research reactor, which represented Korea's first export of a locally-designed nuclear plant.
It also said efforts to establish an ``international science business belt'' will take clearer shape next year.