Next Year's National R&D Budget Cut by 3.4 Trillion Won... Return to Performance-Based Approach

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT to Announce on the Afternoon of the 22nd
Confirmed through the National Science and Technology Advisory Council

The government will cut the budget for government-funded research institutes by 10.8% next year and restructure 3.4 trillion won by consolidating 108 national research and development (R&D) projects. This is the first time in eight years that the national R&D budget has decreased at the budget proposal stage, and if confirmed by the National Assembly, it will be the first time in about 30 years. Additionally, a relative evaluation system for R&D will be introduced, with the bottom 20% restructured annually, significantly strengthening 'performance-based' policies.

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT is delivering opening remarks at the 'Ruling Party-Government Meeting on the Kakao Data Center Fire' held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the afternoon of the 22nd, the Ministry of Science and ICT held the National Science and Technology Advisory Council meeting to finalize the government’s R&D innovation plan and the 2024 national R&D project budget allocation and adjustment plan, which includes these measures. This is a follow-up to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s directive at the end of June during the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting to rewrite next year’s budget allocation and adjustment plan, citing a 'cartel.'

The government will first conduct structural adjustments or cut the next year’s budget for underperforming projects and those criticized externally, such as by the National Assembly, through a 'Financial Execution Inspection Team' starting in the second half of this year. A full relative evaluation will be introduced for R&D project assessments, with the bottom 20% of projects being restructured. Research allowances, which have increased alongside the R&D budget, will be rationally adjusted, and indirect costs will be strictly managed to ensure they are used appropriately for their intended purposes. This government policy is analyzed to run counter to the global trend and voices from the research field, which emphasize avoiding 'performance-based' research and guaranteeing autonomous, creative, long-term, and stable research to achieve disruptive scientific and technological R&D outcomes, and is expected to spark controversy in the future.

In addition, the government plans to strengthen cooperation with excellent overseas research institutions by allowing direct participation in Korea’s R&D. A global TOP strategic research group will be selected to enable researchers from government-funded research institutes to freely collaborate beyond institutional boundaries with domestic and international universities, research institutes, and companies. Pure R&D projects will be encouraged by significantly relaxing the standards and procedures for preliminary feasibility studies. Exemptions from preliminary feasibility studies will be pursued for challenging and innovative R&D projects.

The research management systems operated by each ministry will be integrated into a cross-ministerial R&D integrated management system (IRIS) to support transparent research management and decision-making, with a full upgrade planned.

The revised allocation plan for next year’s major government R&D budget, totaling 21.5 trillion won, which has attracted attention, was also announced. First, 3.4 trillion won was restructured by consolidating 108 projects, including those with a grant-like nature for companies and underperforming projects. Instead, 10 trillion won will be concentrated on innovative R&D aiming for world-class standards. The national strategic technology sector will receive 5 trillion won, a 6.3% increase from this year.

Budgets for basic research and government-funded research institutes will be reduced. The basic research sector will receive 2.4 trillion won (-6.2%), slightly less than this year’s 2.6 trillion won. The budget for government-funded research institutes will be set at 2.1 trillion won (-10.8%), down 0.3 trillion won from this year’s 2.4 trillion won.

Minister Lee said, "We will boldly eliminate accumulated inefficiencies, streamline operations, and innovate budgets and systems to ensure that interest cartels can never take root again. As the minister in charge, I feel an immense responsibility for not preventing and responding to R&D inefficiencies earlier, and we will start innovating from the Ministry of Science and ICT first."

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