“Will significantly reduced research funding be restored?” Ministry of Science and ICT to start working on next year’s R&D budget

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT announcing the R&D innovation plan of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration last year. [Provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT]

[Herald Economy=Reporter Go Bon-hyuk] “How much of the significantly reduced national research and development (R&D) budget this year will be restored next year?”

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it will hold a ‘2025 National Research and Development Budget Explanation Meeting’ in Sejong City from the 7th to the 10th.

According to Article 12-2 of the Basic Science and Technology Act, the Ministry of Science and ICT must allocate and adjust the budgets of major national research and development projects for the following year, and submit the allocation and adjustment results to the Ministry of Planning and Finance by June 30th after deliberation by the National Science and Technology Advisory Council.

This explanation meeting is the first step in the process of allocating the government’s R&D budget for 2025, where expert members in each technical field under the operation committee of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council will thoroughly review the key contents of the government’s R&D projects for 2025. The expert members, who are private experts in their respective fields, will listen to the details of the government’s R&D projects from department officials and provide opinions on the ▷technological innovation ▷urgency of budget allocation and appropriate scale based on their field experience and expertise.

Research conducted by government-funded research institutions in the field of science and technology. [Herald DB]

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to comprehensively reflect the review results of the expert members and budget guidelines, as well as the direction and criteria for national research and development investment in 2025, relevant government policies, and R&D innovation initiatives, and prepare the budget allocation and adjustment plan for next year’s national research and development projects by next month.

Ryu Kwang-jun, Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology Innovation, stated, “The budget explanation meeting is a very important opportunity where 133 private sector experts gather in one place to prepare the basic data for next year’s budget allocation and adjustment,” and “Next year’s government R&D will focus on ‘leading-edge R&D that challenges the first and the best,’ and we will carefully review with expert members to ensure that funding is allocated to suitable project areas.”