Korea: world's biggest investor in research

By Dirgha Raj Joshi

Korea Times

With improving economic conditions, Asian nations are spending a lot of resources in hopes of winning Nobel prizes, but they will need more than cash to realize their ambitions.

The major part of South Korea's scientific development strategy was created in 1999 as the "21st Century Frontier R&D Program," and launched as part of a national plan called the "Long-term Vision for Science and Technology Development Toward 2025."

The current National R&D Programs are the 21st Century Frontier R&D Program, the Creative Research Initiative (CRI), the National Research Laboratory (NRL), the Biotechnology Development Program, the Nanotechnology Development Program, and the Space Technology Development Program.

After the successful setup of a prototype of a xion detector in Daejeon, a major experiment is slowly taking shape. One day it might answer a major mystery about the Universe by detecting a particle called the xion _ a possible component of dark matter. If it succeeds, it will have the potential to rewrite physics and win its designers a Nobel prize.

The government is spending heavily to achieve this goal. In 1999, it allocated 2.07 percent of GDP, which reached 4.29 percent in 2014, surpassing runner-up Israel (at 4.11 percent), as well as regional competitors Japan and the United States. The government aims to increase its investment to 5% of GDP in 2017.

As of 2014 most of the R&D money came from industry (75 percent), government (23 percent) and others (2 percent). South Korea has one of the world's highest proportions of researchers, 12.84 researchers per 1,000 as of 2013. Also, it is a world leader in patent applications, filing 4,590.92 domestic and foreign patent applications per million people, compared to Japan (3,659.4), Germany (2,226.93), U.S. (16,611.2) and China (617.29) at same period.

South Korea has doubled its academic publications in scientific journals since 2005. Figures released in 2014 by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) show that nearly 70 percent of South Koreans who were awarded PhDs in the United States from 2008 to 11 planned to stay there. The government cannot stop this directly so it needs to think of working hours, stress, pay and other benefits within Korea.

As an international student and a researcher from Nepal, I would like to request all concerned bodies including the government to re-think the current situation and improve it. Graduate education should be made free and support given to graduate students for their living expenses because they are totally focused on research that will be a great asset for the country as well as for the betterment of the world. A minimum of 30 percent of international student admission should be made compulsory at all universities. Respective cooperative research labs should be established in diverse fields such as the Korea-Nepal Research Laboratory on Hydropower/Health/Agriculture. Korean scholars and researchers will no longer be only Korean but will be multicultural and take their place rivaling the best research efforts in the world.

Dirgha Raj Joshi is a teaching and research assistant in MS Pharmacy (medicinal chemistry) at Wonkwang University in North Jeolla Province. Write to djmeropaila121@gmail.com.