Launching Seminar for Report on "Korea  as a Knowledge Economy: Evolutionary Process and Lessons Learned". Seoul , South Korea , June 8-9, 2006.

This event was organized to launch the report on "Korea as a Knowledge Economy: Evolutionary Process and Lessons Learned". The launch included a one-day seminar with presentations  and discussions on the various chapters of the report, and a half-day study tour to Samsung Electronics.  In addition to K4D staff, 10 Korean authors from KDI, Korea Information Strategy Development Institute (KISDI), Ewha Womans University, Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI), Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) contributed to the report, which was undergoing final revisions and was published in August 2007. The overview of the report has been released:

Download overview, (PDF, 192 KB)

This second K4D knowledge economy report on South Korea aims at policymakers of developing countries and highlights key lessons related to knowledge-based development strategies revealed from Korea ’s five decades of rapid economic development. One of the main conclusions is that knowledge played a major role in increasing productivity and sustaining Korea ’s long-term economic growth.  The systematic and gradual investments in the macroeconomic environment, institutional capacity, education system, innovation system, and information infrastructure over the years were not only complementary and coordinated, but the pace, magnitude, and types of investment were all synchronized with the stage of economic development. 

Also noted was the market-based approach in which government policies in general complemented and facilitated the functioning of the market, rather than substituting for it.  Other factors that contributed to Korea’s successful transition to the knowledge economy includes the export-led industrialization that induced Korean industries to invest in Research and Development (R&D) to improve productivity to compete in the global market, and the strong government leadership whose role appropriately evolved over time together with needs of economy, and the use of a top-down and bottom-up approach to build a national consensus for implementing economy-wide reforms.

However, the Korean economy is not without current challenges.  The Korean education system has yet to evolve before it can fully meet the needs of the knowledge economy.   Currently, teaching programs are too teacher-centered, one-way, focuses on rote memorization, lacks diversity, and too centrally controlled by the Ministry of Education.  As a result, the Korean youth are inadequately creative and lack initiative.  To nurture creativity and independent thinking, the education system needs to become more flexible and allow higher education institutions to be more entrepreneurial, accountable and responsive to industrial needs. 

In terms of the innovation system, a disproportionate amount of R&D is currently being conducted by private sector, in particular the Chaebols, which makes R&D expenditure too volatile and sensitive to the business cycle.  In addition, there is an over-focus on applied R&D and insufficient attention on basic sciences R&D, which is necessary for long-term S&T development.  There is also inadequate coordination and collaboration between the government research institutes (GRIs), the universities and the private sector.  These shortcomings of the Korean education and innovation systems have persisted for some time and Korea may encounter difficulties in sustaining its economic growth if these issues are not properly resolved soon.

 Presentations

Korea as a Knowledge Economy: An Introduction. Derek H. C. Chen, The Knowledge for Development (K4D) Program, World Bank Institute. (PDF, 765Kb)

Overview of the Korea’s Development Process until 1997, the Challenges for Korea’s Development Strategies. Cheonsik Woo, Korea Development Institute. (PDF, 490Kb)

Designing a New Economic Framework. Siwook Lee, Wonhyuk Lim, and MoonJoong Tcha, Korea Development Institute.  (PDF, 338Kb)

Building an Information Infrastructure for a Knowledge-Based Economy. Dong-pyo Hong  & Sangwon Ko, Korea Information Strategy Development Institute. (PDF, 560Kb)

Meeting Skill and Human Resource Requirement. Anna Kim, Ewha Womans University , and Byung-Shik Rhee, Korean Educational Development Institute. (PDF, 232Kb)

Harnessing the Potential of Science and Technology. Sungchul Chung. Science and Technology Policy Institute.  (PDF, 200Kb)

Background

This event was jointly organized jointly by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) School of Public Policy & Management and the Knowledge for Development (K4D) and sponsored by the Maeil Business Newspaper and the Korean Ministry of Planning and Budget. The participants for the event numbered around 40 and included government officials from Bangladesh Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam, Korean ministry officials, and ambassadors from various local embassies.