S. Korea Lags Behind US, Japan in R&D Investment: Report

According to the report, the country''s investment in R&D increased to 2.64 per cent of its total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003.

However, the amount was only one-eighteenth of that of the United States, and one-eighth of that of Japan, the report said.

Also, government investment in research and development only took up 24 per cent of the total amount, trailing those of France, Germany and the United States which were 38 per cent, 32 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively, according to the report.

The ministry said the small amount of investment in R&D was also leading to insufficient funds for developing the country''s key technologies such as stem cell research.

Despite recent achievements by Hwang Woo-suk, the world''s leading stem cell researcher, the country is spending less than 10 billion won (US$9.58 million) a year on stem cell research while the University of Minnesota alone is spending the equivalent of more than 10 billion won annually on the research, the ministry said in its report.

The Science and Technology Ministry also said the U.S. state of California is spending the equivalent of more than 3 trillion won a year for stem cell research while New York and Illinois are planning to allocate the equivalent of 1 trillion won a year to develop the technology.

The ministry said it was considering ways to increase South Korea''s investment in R&D, which will determine the country''s future competitiveness.

"Most advanced countries reached the era of $10,000 per capita income by expanding their investment in R&D," an official at the Science Ministry said. "We are also checking various measures to increase our R&D investment to achieve $20,000 per capita income."

The measures may include the issuing of government bonds as well as the government offering matching funds for R&D investment by private firms, the official said.

(Yonhap)