ICT Ministry’s 2021 R&D budget set at W21.6tr, up 9.7%

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced Friday that the ministry’s research and development budget for 2021 is set at 21.6 trillion won ($18 billion), up 9.7 percent from 19.7 trillion won in 2020.

The ICT Ministry said the additional funds would be spent on high-priority areas such as disease research and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, fifth-generation wireless networks, self-driving vehicles and next-generation semiconductors.

The budget for infectious disease research has increased by 117.2 percent to 377.6 billion won, from 173.8 billion won in 2020.

The ministry said it will invest a total of 2.46 trillion won in South Korea’s New Deal projects, such as its Digital New Deal and Green New Deal projects, up 45.6 percent year-on-year. The investments will accelerate research in sectors including artificial intelligence and 5G wireless networks, it said.

The budget for three major industries -- the automobile, bio and semiconductor industries -- is set at 2.15 trillion won, up 0.44 trillion won from a year earlier.

The ICT Ministry added that it has allocated 2.35 trillion won for basic science research and educational programs, up 0.32 trillion won.

The nation’s total R&D budget for next year will come out after the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s R&D budget is confirmed. Korea’s combined R&D budget this year is 24 trillion won.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)