[2021 Budget] Full-Scale Battle Against Infectious Diseases, Next Year's R&D to Increase by 96.4%

2021 Budget and Fund Operation Plan Announcement
Infectious Disease Response Up 96.4%, Digital New Deal Up 97.8%
Treatments and Vaccines for 'Crisis Overcome', Post-Corona 'Innovative Growth'

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Jung-ok and Minister of Science and ICT Choi Ki-young are having a conversation at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on COVID-19 held at the Seoul Situation Center of the Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room in the Government Seoul Office Building on the 12th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] Next year, the government will launch an all-out effort to respond to infectious diseases such as the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The budget will increase by 96.4% compared to this year to support the development of treatments and vaccines. A platform will be established to predict outbreaks of new and variant COVID-19 or other high-risk viruses, and a system using artificial intelligence will be introduced to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the budget plan for next year with these details on the 1st.

The government has set a research and development (R&D) budget of 27.2 trillion won for next year. This is an 11.2% increase compared to this year's budget including supplementary budgets. Although this growth rate is lower than this year's 17.3%, it marks a double-digit increase for two consecutive years. The government stated, "This reflects the determination to achieve innovative growth through science and technology in the post-COVID era."

All-Out Effort to Combat Infectious Diseases

By sector, budgets for infectious disease response and innovative growth in the post-COVID era have been expanded. The R&D cost to overcome the COVID-19 crisis is set at 430 billion won, a 96.4% increase compared to this year's budget including supplementary budgets. Of this, 131.4 billion won will be invested to support clinical costs for the development of treatments and vaccines.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, which supports preclinical experiments for COVID-19 treatment and vaccine development, will spend 96.1 billion won on infectious disease response. It will invest 31.9 billion won in medical technology development for future infectious disease response, 10.2 billion won in core technology development for platforms to predict and diagnose new variant viruses, and 7.1 billion won in developing new infectious disease response systems converging artificial intelligence. Additionally, it will promote the establishment of the Korea Virus Research Institute within the Institute for Basic Science and start a multi-ministry national life research resource advancement project (Research Resource Center).

Digital New Deal Budget Increased the Most

The R&D budget for the Digital New Deal, aimed at preparing for the post-COVID-19 era, increased the most. It was set at 1.88 trillion won, a 97.8% expansion compared to this year's budget including supplementary budgets. The Korean New Deal budget, combining the Digital New Deal and Green New Deal, is 1.88 trillion won, a 97% increase.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, the main ministry for the Digital New Deal, plans to spend a total of 1.86 trillion won on the Digital New Deal, including R&D budgets. It will invest 1.1741 trillion won in building the data dam, a data value chain system, promoting convergence projects to expand artificial intelligence technology across all fields, and developing core technologies. It will spend 217.4 billion won on developing 5G mobile communication services and securing core technologies for 6G mobile communication.

In addition, the R&D budget for nurturing three major new industries?Biohealth (1.69 trillion won), future vehicles (370 billion won), and system semiconductors (290 billion won)?is set at 2.34 trillion won, a 25.5% increase compared to this year. To strengthen the materials, parts, and equipment industry, including technology independence in response to the global supply chain restructuring caused by COVID-19, 2.15 trillion won (a 24.9% increase) will be spent.

Post-COVID and Innovative Economy: 'Two Birds with One Stone'

Minister Choi Ki-young of the Ministry of Science and ICT is speaking at a briefing on the results of the 3rd meeting of the Pan-Government Support Group for COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccine Development, held on the 3rd at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT, said, "The government aims to build a leading innovative economic foundation suitable for the post-COVID-19 era, and will make every effort to expand R&D investment and promote the digital transformation of society."

The '2021 Budget and Fund Operation Plan' announced on this day will be submitted to the National Assembly on the 3rd after approval by the Cabinet meeting. It is expected to be revised and finalized through preliminary review by standing committees, main review by the Budget and Accounts Committee, and final approval by the plenary session during the regular National Assembly session.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.