SEOUL: The South Korean government plans to draw up its largest-ever budget for research and development (R&D) projects next year, the presidential office said on Wednesday.
Park Sang-ook, senior presidential secretary for science and technology, said the government is working to overhaul the way it supports R&D projects while "sharply increasing" the relevant budget next year, Yonhap news agency reported.
"Given unprecedentedly rapid technological changes, with the world competing over technology, we can't afford to simply focus on the reform work," he said during a press briefing.
A senior presidential official added that a consensus has been reached between the president and economy-related ministries that next year's R&D budget should aim to be the "biggest ever."
The government will carry out a survey of ministries handling R&D projects to determine their demand, with the exact size of next year's relevant budget expected to take "several more months" to produce, the official said.