Next Year's Major National R&D Budget Set at 26.1 Trillion Won... To Be Expanded and Reorganized After Policy Direction Is Finalized

Science and Technology Advisory Council Finalizes Provisional National R&D Budget Allocation and Adjustment Plan
Reapproval Scheduled for August

The government has tentatively set next year's major research and development (R&D) budget at 26.1 trillion won, a 5.1% increase compared to this year. However, in response to the National Policy Planning Committee's request to withhold the finalization of the budget proposal, the government plans to expand the scale further and to revisit the allocation and adjustment of funds for each project at a later date.

The National Science and Technology Advisory Council announced on June 30 that it held the '1st Deliberation Meeting of the Science and Technology Advisory Council' and reviewed the provisional plan for the '2026 National R&D Project Budget Allocation and Adjustment.'

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Typically, the government R&D budget is finalized through a process where the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters of the Ministry of Science and ICT, together with private sector experts, prepares the R&D budget allocation and adjustment plan, which is then reviewed and approved by the Advisory Council before being submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Finance by the end of June.

However, since the draft allocation and adjustment plan for next year's R&D budget does not fully reflect the new policy direction of the Lee Jaemyung administration, the National Policy Planning Committee requested that the plan be supplemented in July and August and undergo an additional review. Accordingly, a provisional plan has been submitted this time.

The Advisory Council stated that once the new national policy tasks are established, the Innovation Headquarters, together with private sector experts, will prepare a final plan that encompasses the scope of the provisional plan, which will then be finalized through the Advisory Council's review and approval.

According to the Advisory Council, the major R&D projects included in this provisional plan amount to 26.1 trillion won, an increase of 1.2 trillion won from the previous year. Nevertheless, the government intends to finalize the R&D budget at an even larger scale and will also revisit the allocation and adjustment of project-specific budgets in line with the national policy tasks to be established by the Lee Jaemyung administration.

The Advisory Council also announced that, as the review of this provisional plan has delayed the June review?one of the legally mandated deadlines for R&D budget adjustment?the review period will be extended to August to reflect the forthcoming national policy tasks. The council will also discuss reforms to the R&D budget review process.