Korean Climate Technology, 'Focused Investment' Soon Overtaken by China... 3 Years Behind the US

Green Technology Center 2020 Climate Technology Level Survey Results

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A survey revealed that South Korea's climate change response technology stands at 80% compared to the United States, indicating a technology gap of more than three years. In particular, China, where related research papers and patent applications are rapidly increasing, is on the verge of overtaking South Korea.

The Green Technology Center (GTC) under the Ministry of Science and ICT announced this in its '2020 Climate Technology Level Survey' report released on the 2nd. This report quantitatively analyzed 44 technology fields related to climate change response based on research papers and patents, and conducted a Delphi survey of 479 experts from academia, industry, and research institutes to compare domestic technology levels and gaps with major countries such as the United States, the European Union (EU), Japan, and China.

With the United States recording the highest technology level at 100, the EU followed at 96 (0.5 years behind), and South Korea was positioned between Japan at 90 (2 years behind) and China at 78 (4 years behind).

Comparison of Climate Technology Gaps by Country. Image source = Green Technology Center.

By field, in terms of research papers, South Korea ranked 4th in overall related paper share, 2nd in growth rate, and 5th in both influence and diversity of research entities. Specifically, the paper share was EU (40.6%), United States (24.4%), China (24.3%), South Korea (5.8%), and Japan (4.9%), while the paper growth rate was China (138.9%), South Korea (52.5%), EU (20.9%), United States (11.6%), and Japan (6.5%). Among the top five countries, South Korea's paper influence was the lowest at 5th place (14.5 points), and the diversity of research entities was also ranked 5th (0.92 points), the lowest position.

Regarding patents, South Korea ranked 2nd in patent share and growth rate, and 4th in overseas applications, patent influence, IP4 share, and number of claims. The patent share among the top five countries was China (33.8%), South Korea (22.5%), United States (17.4%), Japan (16.3%), and EU (9.9%). While China's patent growth rate (162.0%) showed a sharp increase, patent applications in South Korea, the United States, the EU, and Japan showed a declining trend. Overseas application scores were EU (6.7 points), United States (4.8 points), Japan (2.9 points), South Korea (1.6 points), and China (1.2 points). In terms of patent influence, the United States was significantly higher (9.0 points), followed by the EU (2.6 points), Japan (2.4 points), South Korea (2.2 points), and China (1.2 points). IP4 share was analyzed as United States (38.5%), EU (25.6%), Japan (18.7%), South Korea (14.1%), and China (3.1%). The number of patent claims was United States (17.8 claims), EU (14.1 claims), Japan (8.2 claims), South Korea (7.4 claims), and China (5.8 claims).