National Policy Planning Committee Requests Deferral of R&D Budget Finalization, Seeks Legal Revision to Extend Deliberation Period

Lee Jaemyung Administration Begins Efforts to Increase R&D Budget
Reversing Cuts Made Under Yoon Government

Yonhap News Agency

The National Policy Planning Committee, which serves as the transition team for the Lee Jaemyung administration, announced on June 25 that it had expressed its intention to increase the budget for science and technology research and development (R&D), stating, "We have requested the Science and Technology Advisory Council, a presidential advisory body on science and technology, to defer the finalization of the R&D budget."

Lee Choonseok, head of the Economic Division 2 of the committee, stated at a briefing held at the annex of the Government Complex Seoul in Changsung-dong that afternoon, "If a revision of the law is necessary to extend the deliberation period for the R&D budget, we will seek the consent of the National Assembly," and made the above announcement.

During the presidential campaign, President Lee pledged to significantly expand the stable R&D budget and to greatly increase support for young science and technology personnel as part of his 'building a foundation for growth' initiative. The key points include securing the R&D budget at a certain level or higher relative to total national expenditures, and strengthening budget support to help early-career researchers grow into mid-career researchers. Currently, Hwang Jeonga, a Democratic Party lawmaker who has proposed a bill to mandate allocating more than 5% of the national budget to R&D, is serving as a member of Economic Division 2 of the committee.

Division head Lee stated, "We expressed serious concerns to the National Science and Technology Advisory Council regarding the process of finalizing the R&D budget without fully reflecting the policy direction of the Lee Jaemyung administration, and delivered an urgent request for supplementation," adding, "We requested that the council conduct its deliberations as required by law by the end of June, but refrain from finalizing the budget."

This year, the science and technology R&D budget is 29.6 trillion won. While this is a slight increase from 26.5 trillion won in 2024, it remains lower than the 31.1 trillion won allocated in 2023. Division head Lee commented, "The R&D budget was significantly reduced under the previous administration," and added, "This is not desirable for the development of our nation."