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Science and technology in South Korea has advanced throughout the decades. The advancement of science and technology has become an integral part ofeconomic planning inSouth Korea.[1] Fast-growing industries have created a massive demand for new and more advanced technologies.[1] Additionally, Korean engineers and scientists propose that the advancement of science and technology in partnership with North Korea could help facilitate the peaceful reunification of North and South Korea.[2]
In the pursuit of advancement, South Korea has taken a centralized approach.[1] South Korea was ranked 4th in theGlobal Innovation Index in 2025.[3][4] As of 2022, South Korea has the sixth largest private investment inartificial intelligence.[5]
TheKorean Federation of Science and Technology Societies [ko] was established in 1966 and consists of 780 organizations as of 2012.[2] The goals of the KOFST are to make the sharing of technology and research data between these societies easier and to encourage and facilitate the cooperation ofPacific Rim countries.[2]
South Korea has sent up 10 satellites from 1992, all using foreign rockets and overseas launch pads, notablyArirang-1 in 1999, andArirang-2 in 2006 as part of its space partnership with Russia.[6] Arirang-1 was lost in space in 2008, after nine years in service.[7]
In April 2008,Yi So-yeon became the first Korean to fly in space, aboard the RussianSoyuz TMA-12.[8][9]
In June 2009, the firstspaceport of South Korea,Naro Space Center, was completed atGoheung,South Jeolla Province.[10] The launch ofNaro-1 in August 2009 resulted in a failure.[11] The second attempt in June 2010 was also unsuccessful.[12] However, the third launch of the Naro 1 in January 2013 was successful.[13] The government plans to develop Naro-2 by the year 2018.[14]
Companies involved in the aerospace and defense markets of South Korea are primarily large multinational companies.[15] These large companies have been further strengthened by a push towards consolidation in the market.[15] This results in a difficulty for newer companies to enter the South Korean aerospace market.[15]
With the final successful launch of theNuri, which South Korea launched for the third time in 2023, South Korea has become the seventh country in the world to have amedium-sized liquid-propellant rocket engine over 75 tons.[16]
Two years after South Korea officially expressed its intention to joinHorizon Europe in 2022, South Korea and theEuropean Union signed a Horizon Europe agreement, which is expected to allow Korea to participate in that from 2025.[17]
National Aerospace Industrial Complex is being built inSouth Gyeongsang Province, bringing together aerospace-related companies and agencies, with the goal of completion in June 2025.[18]
Due to the growing perceived threat of North Korea, South Korea is increasing defense spending.[15] In 2019, South Korea is expected to increase spending by the largest amount in 11 years.[15]
Hanwha Techwin is a leading South Korean company manufacturing defense products, security devices, engines, digital solutions, and integrated control systems in South Korea.[15]Hanwha Techwin produces video recorders, surveillance software, access control products, and intelligent machinery and solutions.[15]
Since the 1980s, the South Korean government has invested in the development of a domesticbiotechnology industry, and the sector is projected to grow to$6.5 billion by 2010.[19] The medical sector accounts for a large part of the production, including production ofhepatitis vaccines andantibiotics.
Recently, research and development ingenetics andcloning has received increasing attention, with the first successful cloning of a dog,Snuppy (in 2005), and the cloning of two females of an endangered species of wolves by theSeoul National University in 2007.[20]
The rapid growth of the industry has resulted in significant voids in regulation of ethics, as was highlighted by thescientific misconduct case involvingHwang Woo-Suk.[21]
In January 2025, the country launched theNational Bio Committee, an advisory committee directly under the president.[22]
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Robotics has been included in the list of main national R&D projects in South Korea since 2003.[23] In 2009, the government announced plans to build robot-themed parks inIncheon andMasan with a mix of public and private funding.[24]
In 2005,Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed the world's second walkinghumanoid robot,HUBO. A team in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology developed the first South Koreanandroid,EveR-1 in May 2006.[25]EveR-1 has been succeeded by more complex models with improved movement and vision.[26][27]
Plans of creating English-teaching robot assistants to compensate for the shortage of teachers were announced in February 2010, with the robots being deployed to most preschools and kindergartens by 2013.[28] Robotics are also incorporated in the entertainment sector as well; theKorean Robot Game Festival has been held every year since 2004 to promote science and robot technology.[29]
Performance of South Korean students inInternational Science Olympiads
South Korea is the first country in Asia to participate in Horizon Europe, the world's largest multilateral research and innovation program.[30]
