"Korean Technology Level, 3.3 Years Behind the US... Similar Level to China"

Ministry of Science and ICT Announces Comparative Evaluation Results of 120 Key Science and Technology Projects in 11 Major Fields

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] An analysis revealed that South Korea's level of science and technology was about 80.1% of the top country, the United States, as of last year, indicating a gap of approximately 3.3 years. The gap has slightly narrowed compared to the previous year. South Korea's level is similar to that of China but still lags behind Japan and the European Union (EU).

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 11th, based on last year’s data, an evaluation was conducted on the technological level of 120 key science and technology areas across 11 major fields under the '4th Basic Plan for Science and Technology.' When compared to the United States, the country with the highest technology level (100%), South Korea was analyzed to be at 80.1%. This represents a 3.2% improvement from the 2018 evaluation. By field, the construction and transportation sector had the highest level at 84.0%, while the space, aviation, and marine sector was the lowest at 68.4%. Additionally, the defense sector and life and healthcare sector were relatively low at 75.0% and 77.9%, respectively, with other fields in the low 80% range.

The technology gap was 3.3 years, reduced by 0.5 years. By field, the ICT and software sector had the smallest gap at 1.9 years, while the space, aviation, and marine sector had the largest at 8.6 years. The defense sector also showed a large gap of 5.5 years. Other fields showed differences of around 2 to 3 years.

South Korea’s technology level increased in all fields compared to the previous year. The construction and transportation sector saw the largest growth, rising 5 percentage points from 79% to 84.0%. The disaster and safety sector also increased by 4.5 percentage points from 75.9% to 80.4%, and the energy and resources sector rose by 3.4 percentage points from 76.8% to 80.2%, narrowing the technology gap. Other sectors also saw increases of at least 1.6 percentage points. The technology gap narrowed in all but the space, aviation, and marine sector, which increased by 0.2 years; the other 10 major fields reduced their gaps by 0.2 to 1.2 years.

Looking at the 120 key science and technology areas, 83 technologies saw an increase in technology level ranging from 0.5 to 19.0 percentage points, 20 technologies remained unchanged, and 17 technologies decreased by 0.3 to 5.5 percentage points. The technology with the highest level compared to the U.S. was large-capacity long-life secondary battery technology (96%), while the lowest was space environment observation, surveillance, and analysis technology (55%).

In other countries, the EU showed a technology level of 95.6% compared to the U.S., Japan recorded 87.3%, and China 80.0%. Compared to the previous year, China rose 4 percentage points from 76% and the EU increased by 0.8 percentage points from 94.8%. Conversely, Japan declined by 0.6 percentage points from 87.9%. China’s growth was particularly remarkable. Like South Korea, China reduced its technology gap with the U.S. by 0.5 years (from 3.8 years to 3.3 years) since 2018. In the life and healthcare sector (South Korea 77.9%, China 78.0%) and energy and resources sector (South Korea 80.2%, China 81.6%), South Korea had led in the 2018 survey but was overtaken last year.

South Korea also lagged behind China in the defense sector (South Korea 75%, China 81.7%) and ICT and software sector (South Korea 83.0%, China 85.7%). China’s technology level surged especially in brain signal observation and control (up 16.5 percentage points) and bio- and biomechanical artificial organ technology (up 15.5 percentage points).

Ultimately, the key factor was how much resources and effort were invested. As of 2018, South Korea’s research and development (R&D) investment was $77.9 billion (about 85.7 trillion KRW), but the U.S. invested 7.5 times more ($581.553 billion), and China invested 3.8 times more ($297.431 billion). The EU also spent $396.13 billion.

Kim Sung-soo, head of the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "With the acceleration of the 4th Industrial Revolution, competition among countries to secure core technologies that determine the fate of nations and companies is intensifying. Although South Korea’s technology level has improved compared to two years ago, gaps still exist, and China is rapidly catching up, so strategic investment and efforts must be further strengthened."

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