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Future of Korea in 2045 Driven by Science and Technology (Aug. 26)

담당부서
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연락처

- MSIT to announce "Korea's S&T future strategy for 2045"
- Envision the future on how will the world look like in 2045 with ordinary citizens and realize the dream through S&T


◇ Ensure the Korean society to be ∆ safe and healthy ∆ prosperous and convenient ∆ fair, non-discriminatory, open and trustworthy ∆ contributing to the wellbeing of the humanity in 2045

◇ Eight major challenges to be faced by the humanity in the future including "responding to climate change, disasters and infectious diseases posing a serious threat to the humanity" and "ackling environmental pollution for sustainable development" will be addressed with scientific and technological capabilities.

◇ Lay out policy directions in eight areas from mid-to-long term perspective to continue to secure the capabilities in science, technology and innovation, which serve as the foundation for tackling challenges


The Ministry of Science and ICT (hereinafter "MSIT") announced "S&T future strategy for 2045" (hereinafter "future strategy for 2045") in the twelfth national science and technology advisory council meeting held on August 26 (Wed).


Ⅰ. Background


(Significance) In succeeding the S&T future strategy* established every ten years, it has laid out the scientific and technological vision and mid-to-long term policy direction in preparing for 2045
* Two long-term visions (① the long-term vision for S&T development by 2025 (in 1999), ② S&T future vision for 2040 (in 2010)) have been established in the past to contribute to the national development by predicting and responding to the fast-changing future in a preemptive manner.


(Goal) a long-term guideline for S&T-based short-to-mid-term strategies and plans established every five years including S&T predictive inspection (future technologies, 2021~2045), S&T basic plan (policies, 2023~2027) and mid-to-long-term national R&D investment strategy (areas of investment)



(Implementation mechanism) Having launched and operated the "future strategic committee 2045*" consisting of experts from industry, academia and research institutes since April 2019, it has set the future direction of the strategy, draft and review reports and provide advice.
* a committee comprising experts playing leading roles in industry, academia and research institutes (twenty experts / role: provide advice and set direction), a sub-committee on scientific, technological and innovative ecosystem consisting of experts in each field of science and technology (28 experts, 24 experts, respectively / role: working-level discussion, drafting reports)


Ⅱ. Main Contents


< Future directio >

Envision the future of Korea we hope for in 2045 and present scientific and technological challenges and policy directions as specific strategies to achieve the goal

- Present scientific and technological challenges that should be addressed in realizing the future we want
- Propose the S&T policy direction laying the groundwork for resolving scientific and technological challenges


① (Vision and the future we want) Lay out the future we want in 2045 and S&T vision through analyzing long-term strategies in the past, public surveys and mega-trend


< S&T vision and the future we want in 2045 >

Korea we hope for in 2045

① safe and healthy society

② prosperous and convenient society

③ fair, non-discriminatory, open and trustworthy society

④ Korea contributing to the wellbeing of the humanity

[Vision] S&T to improve the quality of people’s lives, drive economic growth and contribute to the wellbeing of the humanity


② (Challenges) Identify essential S&T challenges which should be tackled in laying out the future vision and realizing the future we want and come up with the direction for technology development
※ Provide creative challenges in basic science which lay the groundwork for eight major challenges (including 160 technologies) and applied science


< S&T challenges to be resolved for realizing the future vision >

Address external factors threatening the survival of mankind
rapid and accurate prediction of extreme weather events and disasters / general-purpose vaccine development

Ensure sustainable civilization in bracing for environmental pollution
create a zero plastic society / strive to build an "artificial sun"

Lead a healthy life with next-generation biotechnology and medical technology
provide medical treatment for five cancers / guarantee human longevity free from diseases

Improve physical and intellectual abilities of humans
integration of humans and machines, wearable robots / AI communicating with humans

Innovation in agriculture, manufacturing and energy in preparing for resource depletion
farms and factories operated automatically 24/7 / achieve 30% of eco-friendly energy by 2045

Living in the outer space and travelling safely and conveniently
airplanes flying in space / pollution-free vehicles without the risk of traffic accidents

Various ways for communication and trustworthy network
virtual world as real as the real world / online communication as reliable as the offline world

Pioneer an unknown world moving into a new area of life
build bases in the space, deep sea and polar regions and construct living space

Creative basic science questions laying the foundation for applied science
biological principles of living and aging process / human brain, memory and dream / origins and evolution of space / develop new materials / mathematics to understand and predict the world


③ (Policy direction) Establish policy directions for science and technology in areas such as human resources, research and development, regions, and global sectors in order to continue to secure innovation capabilities in science and technology, which are the basis for solving challenges
※ Propose policy directions and detailed tasks from 8 major scientific and technological areas from a mid-to-long-term perspective, including human resources, research and development, business and industry, social issues, regions, global, science-oriented countries, and future-oriented countries


< S&T policy direction for solving S&T challenges >

Move away from building talent pools to supporting individuals to realize their true potential
strengthen national intellectual capabilities by utilizing various talent pools and AI / future human resources fully realizing their potential and passion, anytime and anywhere

Move away from conducting research to be fast-followers to creative research taking on challenges
mission-oriented research tasks / fundamental research based on autonomy, exchanges and accumulation

Government and businesses to team up to create future market together
support the entire cycle of innovation, create future growth engines with companies / industry, academia and research institutes to engage in competition and cooperate to respond to risks together

A shift towards research addressing social issues that everyone can benefit from
move towards R&D implementation system for solving problems, rather than for developing technologies / science and technology that every citizen can participate and benefit from

Secure regional competitiveness at the level of advanced countries, as an innovation hub
regional clusters with a lot of innovations / regional innovation ecosystem with competitive edge at the level of advanced countries

Global S&T powerhouse leading the world
S&T research and development ecosystem without borders / Korea leading global discussions on important agendas

S&T as the basic principle for state administration
ever-expanding investments and infrastructure in S&T / fair and logical decision making system for scientific policies

Korea exploring the future and responding preemptively
accurate prediction of the future and providing future prospects based on data / establish governance which responds to future changes in a reliable and preemptive manner


Ⅲ. Future Plan


ㅇ Publish pamphlets after reporting to national science and technology advisory council (end of August)
ㅇ Promote strategies (September~)


For further information, please contact Secretary Kim Dongjun (E-mail address : kan31@korea.kr) or Deputy Director Hwang Yongjun (E-mail address : door@korea.kr) of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

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