From Pursuer to Innovation Leader... A Drastic Transformation of Korean Basic Science [Reading Science]

A Miracle in 40 Years of Science and Technology Research and Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "The perspective on Korea has changed." This is a unanimous statement from Korean scientists who recently attended international academic events. Leading global scientists, who once regarded Korean scientists merely as fast followers, now treat their Korean counterparts as competitors or even admire them.

A representative example is when the German Aerospace Center (DLR) suddenly refused to accept Korean researchers for training after Korea successfully launched its independent space launch vehicle, Nuri, in June. Previously, they considered Korea a developing country and continued to accept trainees, but now, as Korea has become a 'competitor,' they did not want to reveal their inner workings.

Korea began earnest investment in science and technology research and development (R&D) in the early 1980s, less than 40 years ago. However, it has surprised the world with remarkable achievements worthy of admiration. Although there is still a long way to go, Korea has already established itself internationally as a leader in basic science innovation.

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Basic Science in Korea, a 'Complete Transformation'

It is a remarkable achievement that Korea, which was an agricultural-based Japanese colony and even experienced war in the first half of the 20th century, has become one of the most innovative countries in the world.

This is the evaluation given to Korea by the world-renowned academic journal Nature in 2020. Nature highlighted Korea in its 'Nature Index 2020 Korea Special Edition' after Korea ranked second in the Bloomberg Innovation Index that year, following Germany, and was ranked 11th globally in intellectual property holdings by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2019, showcasing a series of remarkable achievements.

Nature attributed this success to the government's focused investment in R&D budgets. It noted the significant increase in the number of basic science researchers as investment intensified. This changed international perception has been further strengthened by Korea's successful launch of the Nuri rocket, making it the seventh country in the world to possess a space launch vehicle, and by Professor June Huh, a Korean-American who grew up in the Korean education system, winning the Fields Medal, known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics, at Princeton University in the U.S. last July.

Basic Research Investment Continues to Increase Over the Past Five Years... Surpassing 13 Trillion Won Since 2019

Recently, Korea has expanded investment in basic scientific research, leading to an increase in challenging and creative research by domestic researchers and improved academic outcomes. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, national investment in basic research has steadily increased over the past five years. Basic research funding within total R&D expenditures rose from 11.0867 trillion won in 2016, 11.3911 trillion won in 2017, 12.1805 trillion won in 2018, 13.0623 trillion won in 2019, to 13.4481 trillion won in 2020. The government's share of the R&D budget allocated to basic research has also continued to grow, increasing from 4.59 trillion won in 2017 to 5.07 trillion won in 2020, and 5.82 trillion won last year, an increase of over 1 trillion won in five years.

In particular, investment in 'researcher-led basic research funding,' which allows individual researchers to select topics and conduct free research, nearly doubled during the same period. It rose from 1.26 trillion won in 2017 to 1.42 trillion won in 2018, 1.71 trillion won in 2019, 2 trillion won in 2020, 2.35 trillion won in 2021, and 2.55 trillion won this year, showing a remarkable upward trend.

Researchers themselves are also growing rapidly. According to Clarivate Analytics, a global academic evaluation firm that annually publishes statistics on citation counts, the number of Korean researchers listed among the world's most influential researchers increased from 45 in 2019, 46 in 2020, to 55 in 2021 (including overlaps across fields). This firm evaluates citation counts across 21 fields and annually selects about 6,000 'Highly Cited Researchers.' Korea's national ranking rose from 17th in 2019-2020 to 15th last year. Notably, the number of young researchers conducting basic research supported by the government at universities is increasing.

The proportion of science and engineering full-time faculty benefiting from researcher-led basic research projects increased steadily from 30% in 2018 to 37.1% last year. Above all, national support for young faculty members capable of conducting creative and challenging research projects has expanded. The benefit rate for 'young researchers,' defined as those within seven years of obtaining their PhD or under 39 years old, has steadily increased from 73.3% in 2017, 73.5% in 2018, 74.9% in 2019, 71.4% in 2020, to 74.8% in 2021.

The number of research institutions ranked within the top 200 worldwide has also increased to six, elevating Korea to approximately sixth place globally. As of this year, Seoul National University ranks 59th, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 67th, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) 126th, Yonsei University 147th, Institute for Basic Science (IBS) 180th, and Sungkyunkwan University 187th.

Both quantitative and qualitative growth in research is notable. The number of papers published by Korea from 2009 to 2019 was 588,991, a 20% increase compared to 489,914 papers from 2006 to 2016. The number of papers in the top 1% by citations also increased by 32%, from 3,975 in 2006-2016 to 5,236 in 2009-2019. Korea's total number of SCI (Science Citation Index) papers rose from 59,628 in 2016 to 76,408 in 2020, an increase of over 15,000 papers. Of these, 34,647 papers (45.3%) published in 2020 were from researcher-led basic research projects.

Research Achievements Addressing Public Safety and Social Issues One After Another

The academic achievements of such basic research results are not limited to the R&D level. They have produced outcomes that solve various social problems faced by Korea and humanity as a whole and ensure public safety. Representative examples include research results released by Professor Bitnaeri Kim of Seoul National University, IBS, and the Korea Virus Research Institute during the COVID-19 pandemic response.

The IBS Vascular Research Group was the first in the world to discover that COVID-19 virus infection begins in the 'ciliated cells' inside the nose. This played a decisive role in proposing a new COVID-19 prevention strategy through intranasal vaccine administration, which has recently become more widespread. Professor Kim discovered 17 proteins that directly bind to the RNA of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, inhibiting its replication. The Korea Virus Research Institute confirmed that memory T cells responsible for human immunity respond immunologically even to the Omicron variant. This explained why breakthrough infections after vaccination do not progress to severe illness. They also uncovered why COVID-19 is particularly fatal to the elderly. The institute demonstrated through animal experiments that the high mortality rate in the elderly due to severe progression is caused by increased cytokine expression that attacks even normal cells.

Basic science research support has also borne fruit in new drug development. The most notable achievement is Professor Jong-sik Cheon of Seoul National University developing microbiome therapeutics that can treat various diseases and maximize the effects of existing anticancer drugs. Based on this research, Professor Cheon and the Department of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University established Cheon Lab in 2009, successfully listed it on KOSDAQ in 2019, and later sold it to CJ Bioscience. As of July, it achieved a market capitalization of 158.7 billion won, a 'big hit.' The microbiome therapeutics developed by Professor Cheon and colleagues have secured preclinical data for a novel strain, CLCC1, which uses independently discovered gut microbial live bacteria effective against liver and colon cancers.

Professor Hoo-geun Ham's team at Chonnam National University developed a system that dramatically improves weather forecasting accuracy using artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning. Using deep learning techniques, Professor Ham's team confirmed that errors in existing climate prediction models could be reduced by up to 90%. They succeeded in extending the prediction of the location and intensity of tropical convection phenomena beyond four weeks by applying long short-term memory techniques. Professor Dong-woo Cho's team at POSTECH also attracted attention with additive manufacturing technology using 3D printing to create human organ tissues. Professor Cho's team developed the world's first core technology for 3D cell printing capable of producing various human tissues and organs, along with bioinks specific to human tissues and organs.

Goo Hyuk-chae, Director of Basic and Fundamental Research Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "Sustained support with a long-term perspective for basic research, which underpins humanity's continuous development and a great leap in science and technology, is very important," adding, "We hope Korea's basic research will produce major achievements that contribute not only to humanity's intellectual advancement but also to enhancing various social and economic values."