Korea paves way for technological self-reliance

By Hwang Yong-soo

Senior research fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute

In the process of Korea's economic development, science and technology has been a strong engine by which an underdeveloped country with limited natural resources and a weak industrial base has joined the ranks of advanced nations. Korea experienced a dormant period in modern technologies until the 1960s when the government initiated an industrialization strategy. Through the intensive development of strategic technologies, the science and technology policy enabled the promotion of core industries such as steel, shipbuilding, electronics, machinery, chemicals, and automobiles that now have high international competitiveness. The government initiated the supply of technologies needed for industrial and socio-economic development; however, the industry has now taken over increasing roles in fulfilling technological demands along with the rapid expansion of technological abilities. The Korean economic sensation called 'The Miracle on the Han River" might have been impossible without the national efforts for scientific and technological development.

Since its 1945 independence, Korea's science and technology has gone through state development paths relying on foreign technology to realize self-reliance in major areas. Korea is now at the point of almost being on par with advanced countries in many areas of advanced technology. Through the successful implementation of its catch-up strategy, Korea has accomplished a technological self-reliance to secure industrial competitiveness. Korea is now beyond the catch-up phase and is becoming a leading entity that will pioneer new scientific fields and develop emerging technology. In the past Korean products were regarded as cheap imitations in the international market; however, the 'Made in Korea' brand now takes up the high-end technology product lineup in exhibition centers around the world. Semiconductors, mobile phones, high-tech electronics, and cars are recognized for their quality and reliability in global markets.

Korea's science and technology development process, which has moved from its introduction through internalization to the creation stage, provides a beneficial model for developing countries that seek to strengthen their technological capability in a short period of time.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Korea imported mature or consolidated technologies from overseas, and thereby absorbed and assimilated those technologies.

In the imitation stage

, efforts were made for adoption and assimilation based on technological learning and reverse engineering. In this period, the factory operation know-how and equipment-embodied practices were transferred mainly through the importation of turnkey-based technologies. Government-sponsored research institutes established, then promoted the choices, adoption, and assimilation of the imported technologies. As state-run think tanks grew in number and research expanded systematically, Korea was capable of epochally accelerating domestic development for technological problem-solving.

Korea was able to develop local manufacturing knowledge by itself in addition to

modifying advanced technologies

through domestic R&D activities in the internalization stage in the 1980s. In this period, Korea tried to produce and improve on existing products in advanced countries through accessing technical data from various sources. Gaining in confidence in development through its success, Korea kept moving toward the promotion of technology-intensive industries and developing advanced technologies.

In the

creation stage

in the late 1990s, Korea stepped forward to develop new technologies considered future growth engines like information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Nowadays, Korea is trying to compete with advanced countries through

innovation

instead of imitation in emerging fields.

Technological self-reliance

In the 1950s, some national research institutes were conducting R&D activities in nuclear fields among others; however, the R&D base for modern technologies was almost non-existent until the early 1960s. As the first economic development plan was being established in 1961 under the Park Chung-hee administration, the buildup of a domestic S&T capability became an important part of the policy agenda to support industrialization.

Korea expanded the number of engineering high schools and vocational education institutes to increase the supply of technicians as well as create a skilled labor force. In the 1970s, engineering colleges were expanded to increase the supply of qualified workers. At the time when the R&D capacity of companies was very weak, these human resources took part in technological learning and contributed to assimilating foreign technologies. Thereafter the Korea Advanced Institute of Sciences (later renamed the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) was established in 1973 and Korea began to make efforts to boost the supply of high-caliber S&T human resources through the expansion of graduate schools in natural sciences and engineering. As a result, Korea was able to break out of the brain drain and started to experience a return of overseas scientists after the 1970's.

With the help of this human resource development, Korean industry acquired a competitive edge in heavy and chemical industries that required a skilled labor force. It is now possible for Korea to promote knowledge-intensive as well as technology-intensive industries through the fostering of high caliber scientific personnel.

R&D Capability Building

Korea had built the basis of its domestic R&D capability through the establishment of

government-sponsored research institutes

in major fields from the 1960s to the 1970s. The government-funded research institutions established then have performed their role as an advance guard of technological self-reliance. In addition, they influenced the establishment of R&D capacities at companies and universities through the spin-offs of trained personnel and collaborative activities.

In the 1980s, largely bolstered by increased policy incentives for technology development and national R&D funds to enterprises, industrial R&D capabilities started to develop. In addition, corporate R&D capacities were expanded considerably after the 1990s as a result of the emergence of new technologies and the

venture boom

that started in the late 1990s. The number of enterprise-affiliated research laboratories expanded from 46 in 1980 to over 17,000 in 2009. The expansion of the industrial research capacity has prompted innovation in high technology industries like semiconductors and telecommunications as well as the existing core-business areas of steel, shipbuilding, chemicals, and automobiles. As a result, Korea recently became

the fourth issuer of patents

at the U.S. Patent Office after the U.S., Japan, and Germany.

The research capacity of universities was weak before the 1990s. From that time, government programs such as the Science Research Centers Program, the Engineering Research Centers Program, the G7 Projects, the Creative Research Program and the National Research Laboratories Programs provided opportunities to invigorate basic and applied research at universities. As a result, the number of articles registered in the Science Citation Index has increased significantly. In addition, academic achievements in scientific and technological fields that attract international attention in world-famous journals are increasing significantly.

Unique features of R&D policy

The establishment of government-financed research institutes such as the Korea Institute of Science and Technology that covers comprehensive technological fields, the establishment of specialized government-sponsored think tanks in the fields of strategic technologies, and the construction of the Daedeok Science Town as a R&D cluster in South Chungcheong Province offer important motives to build domestic R&D capability.

National programs such as the National R&D Projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Industrial Technology R&D Program of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the 1980s greatly expanded domestic activity by providing funds to research institutes, universities, and enterprises. After the 1990s, national R&D programs expanded to almost every government agency, and inter-agency initiatives like the G7 Projects and the 21st Century Frontier R&D Program also expanded.

R&D Priorities

Korea's R&D priorities focused on manufacturing technologies for light industries in the 1960s and switched in the 1970s to manufacturing and production technologies for heavy and chemical industries that included machinery, steel, chemicals, shipbuilding, and electronics. In the 1980s, R&D priorities were given to key component technologies for industry.

In the 1990s, Korea launched large-scale technology development projects for long-term S&T strategies. Korea has accelerated to secure component expertise in high tech areas like information and telecommunications. As a result, innovations of 'globally first' commercialized products were accomplished in the late 1990s, even though the original technology sources were from foreign countries. Some fields like semiconductors, digital TVs, TFT-LCDs and CDMA mobile communications were achieved with excellent results, comparable to advanced countries.

Entering the new millennium, Korea is reinforcing the development of a promising future and emerging technologies to create

new growth engines

and foster creative basic research activities to produce world-class technologies. The know-how to fulfill social needs such as environmental protection and energy production has been prioritized. Currently, creative R&D and innovation beyond technological catch-up and imitation phases have become important tasks to compete with advanced technologies.

Yongsoo Hwang is a senior research fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) in Korea. He has been involved in various research projects that deal with S&T policies. He has contributed to publishing "Forty-year history of S&T in Korea" as a principal investigator. In the past he was the Director of the Division of R&D Policy Research and the Vice President at STEPI. In addition, he served as the General Editor and the Vice President of the Korea Technology Innovation Society. In addition, he has served as a member of a number of S&T-related governmental committees that belong to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Science and Technology, and Korea Research Council of Public Science and Technology. He earned a Master's Degree in Administration from Seoul National University and has completed a Ph.D. course in Public Policy (S&T policy) at George Washington University.