[2020 National Audit] "National R&D Neglecting Local Areas"

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] It has been argued that a system is needed to support regional R&D, as national research and development (R&D) projects are being concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and Daejeon.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT to Rep. Yongbin Lee (Gwangju Gwangsan-gu Gap, Democratic Party Floor Leader) of the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee on the 7th, 77.9% of the R&D support projects under the Ministry of Science and ICT over the past five years were concentrated only in the Seoul metropolitan area and Daejeon.

The Ministry of Science and ICT’s R&D budget over the past five years totaled KRW 33.2481 trillion, of which KRW 10.1004 trillion (30.4%) was invested in the Seoul metropolitan area. Daejeon received KRW 15.7877 trillion (47.5%) of the budget. The combined support budget for the remaining 13 regions amounted to only KRW 7.36 trillion (22.1%).

Rep. Lee pointed out, "The Ministry of Science and ICT claims that the local R&D budget is increasing every year, but considering that the national R&D budget is also increasing annually, this is embarrassingly insignificant even as a token gesture."

In particular, the budgets allocated to Jeonnam and Gangwon were below 1% throughout the five years. Busan, Ulsan, Chungcheong, and Jeonbuk received support in the 1% range, while Daegu, Gwangju, and Gyeongnam received support in the 2% range.

Rep. Lee stated, "Although universities, government-funded research institutes, and companies are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and Daejeon, resulting in a high proportion of support, it is necessary to alleviate the concentration of regional economy and technology commercialization infrastructure by providing more support to regions with lower infrastructure to expand outcomes through policy guidance." He emphasized, "If only certain regions are heavily supported because they have well-established infrastructure, regions with poor infrastructure will not even have the opportunity to strengthen their capabilities, leading to a vicious cycle of stagnation."

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