Corée

The 'Miracle on the River Han' catapulted Korea from developing country to a prosperous economy, driven in part by advancements in science, technology, and innovation. Being the second-highest R&D spender among OECD economies, Korea excels in key technologies, including semiconductors, 6G, and ICT infrastructure. Despite this remarkable progress, disparities remain between SMEs and chaebols, manufacturing and services, ICT and non-ICT industries, and urban and rural areas. Korea also grapples with societal and economic vulnerabilities, including an aging population, a significant carbon footprint, limited renewable energy use, and pronounced gender inequality. To further seize opportunities for equitable and inclusive growth, Korea must foster a shared national vision to develop science, technology, and innovation to address societal issues, enhance R&D policy implementation, promote excellent research, further internationalise, and broaden technology diffusion.

This report evaluates the costs and benefits of replacing postal delivery motorcycles with electric vehicles in eight Korean cities. It compares operating costs, safety performance, and environmental impacts based on data collected from a field trial with both vehicle types. In addition to the economic analysis, qualitative aspects are also discussed based on the findings of a focus group study. The results from the pilot programme provide an evidence base for policy initiatives in the delivery sector in Korea and beyond.

The Korean innovation system is in many ways highly developed and has helped to underpin Korea’s rapid industrialisation. However, long-standing policy emphases on manufacturing and large firms are today in question. Structural problems - such as the relatively weak innovation performance of SMEs, a lagging services sector and limited domestic job creation among the industrial conglomerates - have led to a shift in policy priorities. This shift is crystallised in the current government’s Creative Economy Strategy, which entails a far-reaching set of measures aimed at fostering cutting-edge innovation and consolidating a knowledge-based economy increasingly driven by high-value services. This review addresses Korea’s industry and technology policies and institutions, and provides policy recommendations.

This report assesses the current status of Korea’s innovation system and policies, and identifies where and how the government should focus its efforts to improve the country’s innovation capabilities. It finds that Korea has one of the highest rates of spending on R&D in the world, much of which is performed by private firms. It also has a highly educated labour force – as signalled by its impressive PISA performance and exceptionally high rates of tertiary level graduation – with a strong interest in science and technology. However, a number of bottlenecks persist that hamper Korea’s economic convergence with the leading OECD economies. These include a relatively weak SME sector and weak performance in services, as well as lagging capacities to conduct leading-edge research in many areas. Furthermore, Korea faces numerous threats in the mid term, notably increased levels of competition from China and other newly-industrialising economies, the lowest fertility rate in the OECD and an ageing society, and a continuing high dependency on imports of natural resources, particularly hydrocarbons. In the shorter term, the economic crisis offers its own challenges, with the need for some policy adjustments to deal with expected falls in business investment in R&D and growing levels of unemployment among the highly skilled.