Gov`t to invest 1.7 tln won in basic R&D in 2009

SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- The education ministry said Monday that it plans to allocate more than 40 percent of its research and development (R&D) budget into basic sciences in the new year to enhance South Korea's technological competitiveness.
Of the total R&D budget of 3.89 trillion won (US$2.97 billion), the Ministry of
Education, Science and Technology said 1.73 trillion won, or 44.5 percent, will
be injected into six key support endeavors.
The six fields include areas such as basic sciences, nuclear energy,
inter-disciplinary studies and international cooperation.
South Korea is good at making use of existing technology to make products and
components, but falls behind Europe, the United States and Japan in terms of core
scientific know-how that is directly linked to patents. Seoul has said that it
will overcome this handicap by investing in areas that will build the country's
capability to control intellectual property rights that are integral to long-term
competitiveness.
The ministry said money spent on basic sciences will total 644.9 billion won,
with interdisciplinary and nuclear energy fields getting 247.6 billion won and
212.0 billion won each.
It also said that efforts will be made to inject more R&D funds into universities
and laboratories to fuel job creation as the economy is expected to experience
difficult times in the new year.
The finance ministry said it is aiming for 100,000 more jobs in 2009, but many in
the government and the Bank of Korea said that such numbers may not be met with
the general slowdown in the global economy.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)