Links between the UK and Korea

Korea-UK S&T co-operation is based on the Korea-UK S&T Co-operation Agreement of 1985.  Since 1996 there have been regular meetings – usually once every 2 years - of the UK-Korea S&T Joint Commission chaired by the Science Ministers of the two countries. The Commission decides priorities and agrees bilateral funding programmes to facilitate joint collaboration.

There have been various collaborative activities over the years under this Agreement. Most recently a series of ‘Focal Point’ programmes have run on areas selected by the Joint Commission. From 2002-2006 these included Space, Nanotechnology, Bio-nanotechnology, Energy, Risk Management, e-Science and Women in Science. For 2007-2008 the Focal Point programme has covered Hydrogen Storage, GNSS, Bioscience, Science Museums and Women in Science. to encourage networking between scientists from the two countries and develop new schemes such as joint research programmes or joint scholarship programmes. For 2009-2010, six areas are selected including polar research, food safety, life sciences, e-science, GNSS, and Women in Science.

In December 2004, on the occasion of the State Visit to the UK by President Roh Moo-Hyun, the two Governments signed a UK-Korea Science, Technology and Innovation Partnership agreement. The Partnership aims to expand the co-operation and collaboration links between the two countries covering industrial and commercial players as well as academia. Under the agreement both Governments pledge to provide financial support for activities that facilitate such links. In November 2007 the Partnership was extended for a further 4 years. 

Institutional links 

Below are just a few of the links between research institutions, universities, companies and individual scientists in the two countries:

Cavendish - KAIST

A collaborative venture in physics between Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory and the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was inaugurated in November 2004.  The collaboration is supported by the two Governments and covers joint research in Spintronics, Nanoelectronincs, Biological Physics, Astrophysics and Optoelectronics. 

ETRI - Cambridge

In December 2004 the Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) signed an MOU with the University of Cambridge to establish an R&D centre at Daedeok Research and Development Complex. The R&D centre will comprise research groups in: Nano-electronics Devices; System-on-Chip (SoC); Biotechnology; Information Engineering; Nano-vital Engineering; Opto-electronics Engineering; Next Generation Display Technology; and Ubiquitous Sensor/Network Technology. The collaboration ended in 2007.

UK-Korea Neuroscience programme

The 1st Korea-UK Joint Symposium on Neuroscience was held in Korea in February 2005.  It was the first event under an MOU signed in 2004 between the Korean Brain Research Centre and the UK Collaborative Research Centre - the universities of Sheffield, Bristol and Manchester. The initiative is a 9 year-collaborative programme with a £1.87 million grant from the Korean government and also some support from the British Government.  The UK Neuroscience Association will visit Korea under this programme later in 2008.

Oxford - KRIBB

In May 2006 the Korean Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology (KRIBB) signed an MoU on chemical biology with the University of Oxford.  The agreed joint research areas being bio-nanotechnology, biotechnology, biology, microbiology, nutrition, chemistry and chemical engineering.

Aberdeen – LG Life Sciences

A £2m per annum collaborative research programme on drug development for Alzheimer’s disease is underway involving the University of Aberdeen and LG Life Sciences. The programme is supported by the Korean Health Industry Development Institute and is due to run initially for 6 years.

Rolls Royce - Pusan UTC

The Rolls Royce University Technology Centre (UTC) at Pusan University was formally opened in February 2008, the first Rolls Royce UTC in Asia. The centre is supported by Rolls Royce, the Korean Government and Busan Metropolitan City and will research next generation heat exchangers for aircraft engines. The Korean commercial partner, DongHwa Entec, will manufacture the final product.

Nanotechnology

In November 2007 a UK-Korea Nanotechnology MoU was signed in the UK. The MoU represents the interests of leading nanotechnology researchers form various institutions across Korea and the UK and is designed to facilitate funding and support for joint research in a number of areas. 

Science & Innovation in the UK

The UK’s research community is amongst the most efficient and productive in the world and the UK leads all G8 countries on productivity measures. The UK also remains second only to the US in global scientific excellence - as measured by citations - and has a stronger performance across the range of scientific disciplines than most other countries. 

The UK has a strong history of scientific excellence going back hundreds of years (The Royal Society was founded in 1660) and British scientists we have won over 70 Nobel Prizes in science and medicine.

UK Government support for science

In Government terms the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) is responsible for the development, funding and performance management of the science and research base across the UK. The new Department - created by Gordon Brown as one of his first acts as Prime Minister - brings together for the first time in Britain three closely-linked strands of policy which will be key factors in determining Britain’s future economic and social wellbeing.

One of DIUS’ key objectives is to continue to develop a world-class research base responsive to users and the economy, with sustainable and financially strong universities and public laboratories and a strong supply of scientists, engineers and technologists. DIUS funds the seven UK Research Councils, which allocate public funds to support research projects and teams.

The Government Office for Science, headed by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser Professor John Beddington, is located within DIUS. The Chief Scientific Adviser is responsible to the Prime Minister and Cabinet for the quality of scientific advice to them on scientific and science policy issues.

The Government Chief Scientific Adviser also:

• oversees the Government's Foresight programme and Horizon Scanning Centre;
• Chairs the Global Science and Innovation Forum which co-ordinates the UK's international science and innovation strategy and delivery;
• co-chairs the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology;
• heads the Science and Engineering profession in Government.

The UK Science Budget will increase on average by 2.7% in real terms for each of the next three years. Every single Research Council has received an increase in its funding in real terms. At a time when overall government spending is tightly rationed this indicates the priority the UK attaches to science.

In total the DIUS will be spending almost £6bn on research by 2010-11. This is made up of the Science Budget allocation and some £2 billion of funding to reach universities in England through the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s quality-related funding stream - the second leg of the dual support system.

Science & Innovation in Korea

Korea is ranked 13th in the world terms of GDP. And the ratio of R&D investment is among the highest in the world, hitting nearly 3% of GDP last year.  Korea recovered dramatically from the financial crisis in 1997 and once again has a strong economy, with shipbuilding, construction, flat panel displays and wireless communications at the fore. 

The government is however aware that after 40 years of rapid development the country can not survive as a production and export economy alone. In order to sustain growth Korea must continue to enhance its knowledge-based industries. To this end they continue to support applied research while at the same time are now putting more emphasis than before on fundamental sciences.

Korea already has great strengths in the ‘D’ of R&D.  It has a highly tech-savvy population willing to spend on the latest in digital electronics.  Camera and TV phones are everywhere; people spend hours of leisure time in a broadband enabled virtual world and professional gamers are like pop stars. This young population, willing to update to new technologies and services, fuels and funds the development of cutting edge and innovative technologies and products.

Much is due to government investment and leadership. For example in the ICT sector four out of five households in Korea have broadband and enjoy Internet connectivity speeds of between 20 and 50 Mbps.  The Government’s latest drive is their “Ubiquitous Dream” which entails access to state-of-the-art mobile communication for the whole population, digital multimedia broadcasting technologies and giving every household an Internet-connected robot by 2010. The Government’s Frontier 21 R&D Programme, launched in 1999, funds 10-year programmes aimed at specific market needs and targeted new technologies.  There are now 23 projects, each receiving funding of around US$ 1,000,000 or more per annum.

Some results of Korea research have been world leading in their business implementation. Samsung and LG are now world leading mobile phone and flat screen TV manufacturers, with Samsung in particular now being a larger corporation than many of its rivals in other countries. The KCC (Korea Communications Commission) is pushing to have the Korean developed DMB mobile TV standard taken up by European countries, including the UK. British trade missions focusing on areas such as display technologies, digital media broadcasting, games software, nanotechnology, biotechnology, smart textiles and digital content and animation all testify to the opportunities for British high-tech industries in Korea.

Korea is also moving into big science.  It is a member of the ITER consortium and has formulated a National Fusion Energy Development Plan (for the period 2006-2035). Korea is also constructing its own rocket launch facility on the south coast of the peninsular to support its growing Space programme.

Industrial R&D in Korea

Corporate investment accounts for about two-thirds of R&D expenditure. Unsurprisingly much of this R&D is on the applied side and the investment comes mostly from the large Korean conglomerates (formerly called Chaebol) such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai. This includes large private R&D institutes operating relatively independently from their parent companies: for example LG Elite and the Samsung Advance Institute of Technology (SAIT), each employing thousands of researchers. 

A number of the large companies are still increasing their investment in facilities and research and development over the past few years. Samsung Electronics now has 42 R&D Centres with around 26,000 employees and their total R&D budget in 2005 was 3.13 trillion won (about £ 1.8 billion).   LG Electronics invested 1.8 trillion won (£ 1.1 billion) for R&D in 2005 with 14,000 employees. 60% of its R&D budget was spent on mobile handset development, digital TV and flat panel displays. 

Public R&D in Korea

There are around thirty government research institutes. Many of these are clustered in Daedeok Science Town, close to Daejon, about 160km south of Seoul.  Since the 1970s this area has been deliberately developed as a centre for R&D and has become synonymous as Korea’s research base. The town currently houses a total of 242 of research centres and venture start-ups hiring roughly 24,000 employees, 6,236 of whom are PhDs. The cluster is roughly divided into four main sectors: information technology, biotechnology, radiation technology and nanotechnology. A total investment of 18.4 trillion won was made between 1973 to 2004.

The government has now identified the following core technologies as being essential to facilitate the country’s continued economic growth and plans to become a world leader in S&I.

• Information technology  - to develop high value-added industries and to evolve a knowledge-based economy
• Life sciences and medical technology - to improve quality of life and build new industries
• Environmental technology - to respond to pollution concerns
• Nanotechnology - for sustained economic growth (a November 2005 Lux Report ranked Korea 4th globally in the nano area)
• Energy technology  - for new and renewable/clean energy technology and  to reduce dependence of external sources
• Aerospace technology – aviation, space sciences and satellite technologies