Did Korea Beat Japan? ... Science and Technology Gap Remains, 'The Real Battleground' [Reading Science]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] It is Liberation Day. Various statistical figures showing that South Korea has 'surpassed' Japan, which has been in stagnation for over 20 years, in many aspects make the feeling of celebrating Liberation Day special. To give a few examples, South Korea's per capita purchasing power parity-based GDP has overtaken Japan's. In many areas such as Hallyu culture led by BTS, advanced ICT industries including smartphones, semiconductors, home appliances, and batteries, COVID-19 quarantine, and electronic government, South Korea has increasingly found itself 'looking down' on Japan.

Until the 1980s, South Korea envied Japan for things like the 'elephant rice cooker' and Sony Walkman, so these developments were almost unimaginable. Moreover, during the so-called 'So-Bu-Jang' (materials, parts, and equipment) incident in 2019, which Japan provoked first, South Korea did not lose at all, boosting Korean pride even further. Japan, which tried to break Korea's spirit, suffered losses such as export declines, while Korea remained unshaken. Even Japanese media criticized it as the 'height of a foolish strategy.'

However, there remains concern that South Korea's rapid progress might be a 'castle in the air.' This is because Japan still leads in the level of science and technology that supports economic, social, and cultural development. Recently, the Federation of Korean Industries pointed this out, citing the fact that Japan has 24 Nobel laureates in science fields symbolizing basic science and fundamental technology, while South Korea has none.

So, how big is the gap in science and technology levels between South Korea and Japan? Conveniently, the Ministry of Science and ICT evaluates and ranks 120 key scientific and technological fields across 11 major areas every two years, comparing the US, Japan, China, the European Union (EU), and South Korea. The results based on 2020 data were announced this March, allowing indirect comparison with Japan.

Unfortunately, there is not a single field where South Korea currently surpasses Japan. Overall, Japan's technology level is 87.3% compared to the top technology countries (the US, and the EU in machinery and manufacturing), far ahead of South Korea's 80.1%. China closely follows South Korea at 80.0%. The overall technology gap is evaluated as 2 years for Japan, while South Korea and China are at 3.3 years.

Evaluation results of the technological level of major advanced countries and Korea in 11 key sectors as of 2020. Source=Ministry of Science and ICT.

Looking at each field, the technology gap between South Korea and Japan remains large in basic science. In four fields?space, aviation, and marine (Japan 83.5% > South Korea 68.4%), machinery and manufacturing (Japan 90.3% > South Korea 80.7%), materials and nano (Japan 97.6% > South Korea 80.8%), and energy and resources (Japan 91.0% > South Korea 80.2%)?Japan is overwhelmingly ahead of South Korea. There is still a gap in three other fields as well: environment and meteorology (Japan 90.0% > South Korea 81.1%), agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and food (Japan 88.4% > South Korea 81.4%), and disaster safety (Japan 87.8% > South Korea 80.4%).

However, there is hope for South Korea. Above all, in the advanced technology ICT and software fields (Japan 84.3% > South Korea 83.0%), the gap is minimal. The technology gap is also not large in defense (Japan 77.0% > South Korea 75%), construction and transportation (Japan 89.1% > South Korea 84%), and life and healthcare (Japan 81.6% > South Korea 77.9%).

Especially, South Korea is the 'rising sun' with an overall upward trend, while Japan is the 'setting sun.' South Korea's technology levels in all 11 fields increased compared to the previous year (1.6%p to 5.0%p), and the technology gap narrowed (-0.2 to -1.2 years) except in the 'space, aviation, and marine' field. Overall, the technology level rose from 76.9% to 80.1%, and the technology gap decreased from 3.8 years to 3.3 years. However, Japan's technology levels declined (-0.1 to -2.7%p) in eight fields excluding space, aviation, marine, defense, and energy and resources. The overall technology level fell from 87.9% to 87.3%, and the technology gap actually increased from 1.9 years to 2.0 years. This is a backward step amid other countries advancing their technologies, a ripple effect of the 'lost 20 years.'

It is said that properly nurturing science and technology takes at least 30 to 50 years per field. South Korea only began scientific research and development around the 1970s, while Japan started developing basic science after the Meiji Restoration, being the first in Asia to adopt Western scientific culture. So, the foundation and starting points of science and technology are clearly different. Japan's science and technology development is a matter for the Japanese government and people to handle, but for South Korea's brilliant economic, social, political, and cultural progress not to become a castle in the air, all of us need to devote more thought, effort, and investment to advancing science and technology. That will be the true path to welcoming 'Liberation.'