The South Korean government is working to incorporate the research needs of local governments into the planning of strategic research projects at government-funded research institutes. This initiative aims to connect region-specific research with strategic research projects and utilize research institutes as regional research and development (R&D) hubs.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the scientific community on October 14, the government is considering including local governments as key players in identifying demand for strategic research projects. A ministry official stated, "We are currently developing procedures for specific demand proposals and task reflection, which will be included in the 2028 strategic research project guidelines."
The main focus is to allow local governments to propose research needs related to regional strategic industries and key policies, enabling research institutes to plan these as strategic research projects linked to their missions.
This initiative aligns with the '5 Extremes and 3 Specialties' national balanced growth policy promoted by the Lee Jae-myung administration. The plan is to leverage the research personnel, equipment, and facilities of research institutes to connect with regional strategic industries, thereby serving as a hub for regional innovation.
A ministry official emphasized, "The institutes must become the center of regional innovation," adding that while they have previously conducted regional research through commissioned projects, the goal is to have them play a pioneering role in regional innovation based on government funding.
The policy aims to restore the core functions of research institutes, many of which were established to support region-specific projects or conduct research necessary for key local policies.
An official from a research institute noted, "Each regional branch has specialized research capabilities. If branches and local governments leverage their strengths to plan distinctive projects, they can secure a competitive edge that is difficult for other regions to replicate."
Concerns about the decision-making structure centered around headquarters also contribute to the policy's background. Some research institutes have raised worries that branch leaders may find it challenging to participate in institutional decision-making, potentially leading to a lack of reflection of region-specific research in strategic research projects. The ministry official mentioned, "During the process of gathering opinions from branches, there was a common request to reflect local government needs."
The necessity to incorporate multi-agency research needs is also cited as a reason for advancing this policy. Under the project-based system (PBS), each ministry directly assigned necessary research to research institutes through commissioned projects. However, with the abolition of PBS, related funding has shifted to government grants from the Ministry of Science and ICT, raising concerns that strategic research projects may be planned primarily around the ministry's areas of responsibility. This highlights the need for a separate procedure to reflect the research needs of various ministries.
Kwon Seong-hoon, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly's Legislative Research Service, stressed that strategic research projects should not remain solely a strategy of the Ministry of Science and ICT. He stated, "Strategic research projects must be linked to multi-agency policies," and emphasized the need to establish both a bottom-up structure that aggregates research needs from various ministries and a top-down structure that sets research directions centered on national science and technology policy.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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