"End of PFS, Shift to 'Pre-Inspection'... Large-Scale R&D Review System for Projects Over 100 Billion Won Revamped for the First Time in 18 Years"

Threshold raised from 50 billion won to 100 billion won...
Introducing a customized investment and management system by classifying projects as research-type or infrastructure-type

From now on, large-scale national research and development (R&D) projects with a total budget of 100 billion won or more will no longer be decided by a single preliminary feasibility study (PFS). Instead, they will be reviewed in stages according to the nature of each project. The total project cost will also no longer be fixed from the outset; it will be finalized sequentially in line with the level of technological maturity and design.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 12th that the "Plan for a Complete Overhaul of the Pre-Inspection System for Large R&D Projects" was finally approved at the 5th deliberation meeting of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council (chaired by the President). Following the passage of amendments to the Framework Act on Science and Technology and the National Finance Act by the National Assembly and their enforcement starting on the 10th, the PFS system for R&D projects based on the National Finance Act, which had been in place since 2008, has now been converted into an "R&D customized pre-inspection" system grounded in the Framework Act on Science and Technology.

Infographic on Innovation Measures for the Large-Scale R&D Investment Management System. Provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT

The core of this reform is not to "abolish the gate," but to redesign the review method in line with the characteristics of R&D. The PFS was originally intended to verify the economic feasibility of large-scale infrastructure projects, but it has been applied in the same way to R&D projects, which are highly uncertain. As a result, the process has taken on average more than two years and has been criticized for imposing an excessive administrative burden. The government designed the new system with the intention of putting in place separate safeguards to prevent poor project planning and budget waste even after abolishing the PFS.

500 billion won → 100 billion won... Higher threshold for large-scale R&D

First, the threshold for projects subject to pre-inspection will be raised from the current total project cost of 50 billion won or more to 100 billion won or more. This reflects changes in the environment in which large-scale and concentrated investments have become the norm due to intensifying global technological competition. Inflation since the introduction of the system was also taken into account.

In addition, unlike the existing PFS, which evaluated all R&D projects in the same way, projects will now be classified as either "research-type" or "infrastructure-type," with different pre-inspection systems applied to each. Research-type projects are those in which R&D activities themselves are central, such as the development of strategic technologies in areas like AI, quantum, and bio, as well as technology commercialization and human resource development. Infrastructure-type projects refer to those that create tangible infrastructure, such as the construction of large-scale research facilities and equipment, the development of research complexes, and space launch vehicles and satellites.

The government intends to place the emphasis on "speed" for research-type projects and on "systematic management" for infrastructure-type projects.

Research-type: review of planning completeness... Infrastructure-type: full life-cycle stage-by-stage review

For research-type R&D, a "project planning review" will be conducted before the budget deliberation. Over approximately five months from November of the year prior to the budget request, the completeness of the project plan will be examined, and the results will be notified to each ministry in March. Each ministry will then supplement its new project plans based on these results and prepare its budget requests.

The review items will be simplified compared to the existing PFS, focusing on core elements such as urgency, specificity, and redundancy. Reviews will be conducted at the "project group" level by similar technology fields, so that not only the feasibility of individual projects but also the prioritization among projects and the appropriateness of resource allocation can be examined together. This is also intended as a mechanism to strengthen the linkage with the budget deliberation process.

In contrast, a "full life-cycle review system" will be introduced for infrastructure-type R&D. During the project planning stage, a project implementation review will examine whether the necessary technologies can be secured and whether there is an adequate project management plan. Once the design is completed, a design adequacy review will confirm constructability and site suitability, after which the project cost and site will be finalized. If the project plan needs to be revised due to factors such as inflation or technological changes during implementation, a major plan change review will be conducted to assess the appropriateness of the changes.

In particular, for system development-type projects such as space launch vehicles or large accelerators, the total project cost will not be fixed from the beginning. Instead, only the budget required for the technology development or design stages will be reflected first. The full-scale construction budget will be finalized only after sufficient technological maturity has been secured. The project site will also not be finalized at an early stage; only candidate sites and a selection plan will be submitted, with the aim of reducing the burden that arose when sites were decided before the technologies had been verified.

Hong Sunjeong, director of the Performance Evaluation Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, answers reporters' questions at a press briefing held on the morning of the 12th in the main conference room of the Science and Technology Advisory Council in Jongno, Seoul, regarding the plan to completely overhaul the pre-inspection system for major R&D projects. Photo by Kim Jonghwa

"Total project cost will be estimated first, then finalized step by step"

The method for calculating the total project cost will also change. Under the existing PFS system, the total project cost was fixed in one go at an early stage, and any subsequent change required a separate procedure. As a result, when the initial estimate diverged from reality, this repeatedly led to project delays or controversies over cost increases.

Going forward, the total project cost will be presented as an "estimate" at the initial stage, and the system will be converted so that the budget is finalized step by step in line with the design and the level of technological maturity.

At a press briefing held on the morning of the 12th in the main conference room of the Science and Technology Advisory Council in Jongno, Seoul, Hong Sunjung, Director of the Performance Evaluation Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "For large-scale infrastructure, it is difficult to finalize the total project cost at the completion stage from the very beginning," adding, "In the first stage, the total project cost will be estimated, and in subsequent stages, the budget required within the necessary scope will be finalized and then recalculated."

Regarding operations during the transition period, the government plans to complete the existing PFS procedures by August for infrastructure-type projects that have already been submitted. The new infrastructure-type review system will be applied from the second half of the year, while the project planning review for research-type projects will begin accepting applications with the enforcement of the law and will be reflected starting from the 2027 budget formulation.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans, through this reform, to minimize concerns over poor project planning and budget waste that have been raised since the abolition of the PFS, while at the same time establishing a faster and more flexible investment and management system tailored to the characteristics of R&D.

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