"South Korea's Space Industry Investment and Support Among Lowest Compared to Major Countries... Expansion of Private Company Participation Needed"

[Asia Economy Reporter Woo Su-yeon] It has been revealed that South Korea ranks among the lowest in investment, budget support, and manpower in the space industry among major OECD countries, prompting calls for expanded government support and private sector participation. The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) emphasized that Korea should establish a dedicated space development organization and make full-scale support to become a leading space power.

According to the FKI and industry sources on the 17th, the global space industry is expected to grow from $358 billion (approximately 400 trillion KRW) last year to about $1.1 trillion (1,228 trillion KRW) by 2040, 20 years later. The space industry is a high value-added advanced country-type industry, with a value-added rate 1.7 times higher than the automobile industry and an R&D workforce proportion 2.5 times higher, creating high-quality and stable jobs.

The FKI examined the current status of Korea’s space industry, including the G5 countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan), China, and Russia. Korea’s space development tasks are handled by a department under the Large Public Policy Research Officer of the Ministry of Science and ICT, but the global space powers such as the G5, China, and Russia have established independent administrative organizations to accelerate space development.

There is also a shortage in government budget and specialized manpower. Korea’s space development budget in 2020 was the lowest compared to the G5 and China-Russia, at $720 million (0.04% of GDP), and the budget ($480 million) and manpower (about 1,000 people) of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the agency responsible for space development, are also ranked low compared to these countries.

Private investment and technological levels are also relatively low. The scale of private company space investment R&D is at a lower level, and aerospace technology is also at a low level. According to 2018 OECD statistics, private space industry R&D investment was $26.4 billion in the U.S., $3.4 billion in France, $2.4 billion in the U.K., $2.0 billion in Germany, and $0.8 billion in Japan, but Korea’s $0.4 billion was the lowest, about half of Japan’s. According to data analyzed by the National Science and Technology Knowledge Information Service (April 2019), when the U.S. technology level is set at 100, China was 89, Japan 86, and Korea 60, ranking the lowest.

Considering Korea’s poor current status in the space industry, the FKI proposed four tasks to leap forward as a space power. First, it is necessary to establish an independent dedicated space development agency like a “Korean NASA,” significantly increase the space development budget, and expand the manpower of the dedicated agency to the level of Japan or France. Specifically, the current budget of about $700 million should be expanded to about $3 billion, comparable to Russia and Japan, and the agency’s manpower should be increased to the level of France (2,400 people) or Japan (1,500 people).

They also emphasized expanding private company participation in space development and strengthening cooperation with the U.S., which leads the global space industry. In the U.S., SpaceX has achieved revolutionary cost reductions through reusable launch vehicles, and to replicate such cases, it is necessary to foster space funds and strengthen startup support to discover aerospace startups, thereby shifting the space development paradigm to be private-sector centered.

Kim Bong-man, head of international cooperation at the FKI, said, “With the end of the Korea-U.S. missile guidelines and participation in the U.S. Artemis program as opportunities, Korea-U.S. space cooperation should be strengthened, making this year the first year of full-scale space industry advancement.” He added, “In particular, efforts should be made at the national level to strengthen diplomatic technology cooperation with the U.S. related to launch vehicle development and the establishment of the Korean Positioning System (KPS).”

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