Korean Healthcare Industry Technology Lags US by 2.5 Years... "Strategic Investment Needed"

Korea Health Industry Development Institute Technology Level Evaluation
If the US level is 100%, Korea is 79.4%

[Image source=Pixabay]

The technology gap between South Korea's healthcare and industrial technologies and the United States, the country with the world's leading technology, was evaluated to be 2.5 years.

On the 9th, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute announced the results of the "2022 Healthcare and Industrial Technology Level Assessment." The evaluation covered healthcare and industrial technologies in 42 disease fields, including lung cancer, and 35 industrial sectors, including synthetic pharmaceuticals.

In this assessment, South Korea's technology level was analyzed to be 79.4% compared to the United States, with a technology gap of 2.5 years. By country, with the United States as the leading technology holder at 100%, Europe was evaluated at 88.4%, Japan at 81.7%, and China at 74.0%.

In the disease fields, South Korea's technology level was relatively high in musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases (osteoarthritis 90%) and low birthrate overcoming technologies (infertility and subfertility 89%), while it was relatively low in the respiratory system field (pneumonia 70%).

In the industrial sector, China's growth in medical artificial intelligence technology was remarkable. It ranked third in technology level following the United States and Europe, and the technology gap with the United States was 2.4 years, showing a rapid catching-up trend.

Shin Sang-hoon, head of the R&D Performance Evaluation Group at the Development Institute, stated, "As global crises such as COVID-19 continue, competition among countries to secure core technologies in the healthcare sector responsible for national and public health is intensifying. Although South Korea's healthcare and industrial technology levels have improved significantly, a technology gap still exists compared to the leading technology countries. Considering the rapid advancement of technologies in nearby countries such as Japan and China, strategic investment is necessary to secure South Korea's competitiveness."

The Development Institute evaluates the relative technology levels and technology gaps of five major countries (South Korea, China, Japan, Europe, and the United States) every two years to diagnose the level of key core technologies in the healthcare and industrial sectors and to prepare policies for improving these technology levels. The evaluation results are shared with ministries, research institutions, and others to be used as basic data for establishing national healthcare policies and research and development.