South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT on Thursday held a meeting in Daejeon at the Korea Basic Science Institute on the 2026 direction of major R&D policies for the Chungcheong region.

Participants included the presidential office secretary for science, technology and research funding, the director general for science and technology policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the president of the Korea Basic Science Institute. Around 100 people attended, including researchers and research administration staff at government-funded institutes, university professors and graduate students, and industry officials.

The ministry introduced the government's 2026 R&D budget investment direction, reflecting a record 35.5 trillion won. It also shared key contents and implementation plans for the R&D ecosystem innovation measures announced to create an environment that allows researchers to focus on challenging work.

It also announced tasks including the basic direction for reforming government-funded science and technology institutes into national mission-driven research institutions, a phased abolition of PBS and a revamp of the evaluation and compensation system. It also introduced the direction for an across-the-board overhaul of the pre-inspection system for large national R&D projects.

After the presentations, researchers proposed institutional difficulties they feel in the field and areas needing improvement. In particular, there were many questions about institutional changes, including shifts in policy direction for government-funded institutes as PBS is phased out and reforms to the research project evaluation system.

The ministry plans to hold meetings sequentially in the Seoul metropolitan area, the Yeongnam region and the Honam region, starting with the Chungcheong meeting. It plans to actively reflect the discussions in future detailed budget allocations, guidelines for operating the R&D system, and policies for government-funded institutes.