The government has set its research and development (R&D) budget for 2027 at 39.5 trillion won. Up 11.2 percent (4.0 trillion won) from this year, it marks a double-digit growth rate for the second consecutive year following 2026.
 [코리안투데이] Cabinet approval of the 2027 government R&D budget bill © 장형임 기자 |
The government approved the 2027 budget bill at a Cabinet meeting on September 1. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT (led by Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT), the government R&D budget within it stands at 39.5 trillion won, an increase of 11.2 percent (4.0 trillion won) from 2026. The main R&D budget allocated and coordinated by the ministry’s Office of Science, Technology and Innovation amounts to 33.8 trillion won, up 11.5 percent (3.5 trillion won) from 2026.
The growth rate of the government R&D budget continues in double digits in 2027, following 19.9 percent in 2026. This far exceeds the 7.2 percent average annual growth rate of the government R&D budget over the past 20 years, reflecting the government’s commitment to expanding investment and to making science and technology a core engine of future growth.
The 2027 budget focuses on record-scale investment in new projects, three mega-projects and seven SEED programs grounded in national strategic technologies, stronger support for the public at large, and a ‘one-team’ approach to budget allocation and formulation in which all ministries and the private sector take part.
First, a record 3.3 trillion won will be invested in new projects that will serve as seeds of growth. For large R&D projects with total costs of 100 billion won or more, the review period has been sharply shortened from about two years under the existing preliminary feasibility study to three months, so that timely investment can be made in the technologies that are needed. Evaluation results have been reflected in the budget, and funds secured through spending restructuring via project reorganization have been fully reinvested in the R&D sector.
To secure the world’s best and first-of-their-kind technologies and to create future growth engines, investment in the 10 NEXT strategic technology fields—including artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and displays, advanced bio, and quantum—will be expanded from 11.0 trillion won to 13.8 trillion won. Of this, 5.8 trillion won will be concentrated on the three mega-projects of semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers (AIDC), and 3.7 trillion won on the seven SEED programs, including small modular reactors (SMR), renewable energy, nuclear fusion, quantum, aerospace, advanced bio, and advanced supply chains.
Support will also be strengthened so that all citizens can share in the fruits of innovative growth. The government will introduce investment-type R&D that follows an ‘invest → recover → reinvest’ cycle, and will expand region-led autonomous R&D as well as defense and K-defense industry R&D, backing innovation in the private sector and the regions. In addition, by nurturing young people and talent, increasing the number of basic research tasks, and providing stable personnel-cost support for government-funded research institutes, it will create an environment in which researchers can concentrate on their work, while also expanding R&D support tied directly to citizens’ quality of life, such as disaster safety.
In the course of budget formulation, cooperation involving all ministries and the private sector was broadened. Project planning was refined through reviews of large R&D project plans led by private-sector experts, consulting for new projects, and project briefing sessions by expert committees, and inter-ministerial collaboration was strengthened from the innovation office’s allocation and coordination of the main R&D budget through to the drafting of the government budget bill.
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