Science and technology in South Korea has advanced throughout the decades. The advancement of science and technology has become an integral part of

economic planning Economic planning is a resource allocation mechanism based on a computational procedure for solving a constrained maximization problem with an iterative process for obtaining its solution. Planning is a mechanism for the allocation of resources ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Fast-growing industries have created a massive demand for new and more advanced technologies. Additionally, Korean scientists propose that the advancement of science and technology in partnership with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

could help facilitate the peaceful reunification of

and

. In the pursuit of advancement,

has taken a centralized approach. South Korea was ranked 5th in the

Global Innovation Index The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and ''World Business'', a British m ...

in 2021

Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST)

The Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies was established in 1966 and consists of 780 organizations as of 2012. 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 of

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of ...

countries.

Aerospace Engineering

South Korea has sent up 10 satellites from 1992, all using foreign rockets and overseas launch pads, notably

Arirang-1 KOMPSAT-1 (Korean Multi-purpose Satellite-1), also known as Arirang-1, was a satellite created by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and launched by a United States launch vehicle on 21 December 1999. This was the first satellite bui ...

in 1999, and Arirang-2 in 2006 as part of its space partnership with Russia. Arirang-1 was lost in space in 2008, after nine years in service. In April 2008,

Yi So-yeon Yi So-yeon (born June 2, 1978) is a South Korean astronaut and biotechnologist who became the first Korean to fly in space. Upon return from her mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Yi continued as a KARI researcher attendin ...

became the first Korean to fly in space, aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-12. In June 2009, the first

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...

of South Korea,

Naro Space Center , image = Naro Space Center, 2021.jpg , caption = , LID = , type = Spaceport , owner = Government of South Korea , operator ...

, was completed at

Goheung Goheung County (''Goheung-gun'') is a county in Jeollanam-do Province, South Korea. Naro Space Center The Naro Space Center was completed during 2008 in southern Goheung and is operated by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The ...

, Jeollanam-do. The launch of

Naro-1 Naro-1 ( ko, 나로호), previously designated the Korea Space Launch Vehicle or KSLV (also KSLV-1), was South Korea's first carrier rocket, and the first South Korean launch vehicle to achieve Earth orbit. On January 30, 2013, the third Naro-1 ...

in August 2009 resulted in a failure. The second attempt in June 2010 was also unsuccessful. However, the third launch of the Naro 1 in January 2013 was successful. The government plans to develop Naro-2 by the year 2018. Companies involved in the aerospace and defense markets of South Korea are primarily large multinational companies. These large companies have been further strengthened by a push towards consolidation in the market. This results in a difficulty for newer companies to enter the South Korean aerospace market.

Defense Technology

Due to the growing perceived threat of

, South Korea is increasing defense spending. In 2019, South Korea is expected to increase spending by the largest amount in 11 years. Hanwha Techwin is a leading South Korean company manufacturing defense products, security devices, engines, digital solutions, and integrated control systems in South Korea. Hanwha Techwin produces video recorders, surveillance software, access control products, and intelligent machinery and solutions.

Biotechnology

Since the 1980s, the South Korean government has invested in the development of a domestic

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

industry, and the sector is projected to grow to by 2010. The medical sector accounts for a large part of the production, including production of hepatitis vaccines and

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention ...

s. Recently, research and development in

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar work ...

and

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

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 the

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three " ...

in 2007. The rapid growth of the industry has resulted in significant voids in regulation of ethics, as was highlighted by the

scientific misconduct Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in the publication of professional scientific research. A '' Lancet'' review on ''Handling of Scientific Misconduct in Scandinavian countrie ...

case involving Hwang Woo-Suk.

Robotics

Robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

has been included in the list of main national R&D projects in South Korea since 2003. In 2009, the government announced plans to build robot-themed parks in

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

and

Masan Masan is an administrative region of Changwon, a city in the South Gyeongsang Province. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae. Masan was redistricted as two distric ...

with a mix of public and private funding. In 2005, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed the world's second walking

humanoid robot A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other pu ...

HUBO HUBO ( ko, 휴보; designated KHR-3) is a walking humanoid robot, head mounted on a life-size walking bipedal frame, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and released on January 6, 2005. According to Hub ...

. A team in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology developed the first South Korean android,

EveR-1 Ever may refer to: * Ever (artist), creator of street art, from Buenos Aires, Argentina * Ever, Kentucky * -ever, an English suffix added to interrogative words in forms like ''wherever'' * KT Tech EVER, a South Korean mobile phone manufacture ...

in May 2006. EveR-1 has been succeeded by more complex models with improved movement and vision. 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. Robotics are also incorporated in the entertainment sector as well; the ''Korean Robot Game Festival'' has been held every year since 2004 to promote science and robot technology.Korean Robot Game Festival
, Official Site

References