[Opinion] R&D Budget Cuts Could Become the Greatest Failure of the Yoon Administration

There is an old saying, "Like Jo Ja-ryong using an old sword," which means to slash indiscriminately without discrimination. While it is reasonable for the Yoon Seok-yeol administration to reform the previous government's failures, cutting the research and development (R&D) budget could become the administration's greatest blunder, akin to ruining a precious item with Jo Ja-ryong's old sword.

At the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting held on September 6, President Yoon pointed out that "R&D conducted in a manner of dividing and sharing needs to be reexamined from a zero base," highlighting the chronic cartel issues in government R&D budgets. As a result, next year's R&D budget was set at 25.9 trillion won, a 5.2 trillion won (16.6%) cut compared to this year.

There are numerous examples showing how drastically the R&D budget has been slashed like Jo Ja-ryong’s old sword. The Ministry of Science and ICT’s affiliated research institutes’ budgets for the 12 major national strategic technologies for next year were cut by 18.6%. By sector, advanced robotics was cut by 34%, secondary batteries by 28%, advanced mobility by 27%, semiconductors and displays by 26%, and next-generation communications by 24%. Despite 16 projects being selected in the Ministry’s “Top 100 National R&D Achievements,” the budget for convergence research projects at government-funded research institutes was cut by 24%, and creative convergence research by 48%. Additionally, about 1,200 young researchers are expected to be reduced across 25 government-funded science and technology research institutes. The budget for training specialized science and engineering personnel was cut by 81%, with the number of trainees dropping from 1,334 this year to 290 next year.

With the fiscal deficit exceeding 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), unnecessary fiscal expenditures must be reduced even by a single won. Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT also mentioned at the National Assembly audit on the 11th that budget cuts were inevitable to eliminate outdated practices and inefficiencies in R&D. Given that the R&D budget has expanded without cuts for the past 33 years, budget leakages and inefficiencies caused by outdated practices and vested interest cartels could be severe. In that case, the government must reveal the reality of the R&D cartel to the scientific community and the public and eradicate it thoroughly. Without such verification, branding the entire scientific community as a group wasting taxpayers’ money due to outdated practices and inefficiencies based on a single presidential remark is a grave mistake.

If the R&D cartel has been wasting government budgets for the past 33 years, the root problem lies in the government’s incompetence. The selection of research topics and executing institutions for scientific research projects undergoes a complex review process. If outdated practices and inefficiencies are still serious, what has the Ministry of Science and ICT been doing all this time? Can budget cuts alone innovate outdated practices and inefficiencies without changing the government’s capabilities?

The success of American venture companies is rooted in basic scientific research outcomes supported by government funding. The myths of American venture companies that change the world did not fall from the sky. As competition in science and technology development and industrial policy among nations becomes a more critical national task than ever, the importance of government R&D budgets is increasing.

Nevertheless, if R&D budget cuts proceed as they are, while some outdated practices and inefficiencies may improve, it will leave serious wounds such as lowered morale and diminished research capabilities in the scientific community. For the public, it is expected to become a representative policy that establishes the Yoon Seok-yeol administration as an authoritarian and dogmatic government.

Kim Dong-won, Former Visiting Professor at Korea University