South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Jan. 29 that amendments to the National Finance Act and the Framework Act on Science and Technology passed a plenary session of the National Assembly to abolish pre-feasibility studies for national R&D projects and shift to a tailored investment and management system.

A revision to the National Finance Act excludes large national R&D projects of 50 billion won or more from pre-feasibility studies. A revision to the Framework Act on Science and Technology introduces an advance-check system for R&D projects of 100 billion won or more to prevent poor planning of new projects after the abolition and to strengthen investment efficiency.

Follow-up measures will be applied by dividing projects into build-type R&D projects such as construction of research facilities and equipment, and other R&D projects, reflecting the characteristics of R&D projects.

Existing R&D pre-feasibility studies took an average of more than 2 years to pass. This had the drawback of delaying the speed of securing national strategic technologies by as long as the pre-feasibility period compared with technologically advanced countries overseas.

For new R&D projects, an additional procedure will be added to review project plans in advance from November of the previous year to March, ahead of budget deliberations, to prevent poor execution and ensure sufficient review.

For build-type R&D projects that require systematic project management rather than speed, project implementation reviews and plan-change reviews will be introduced to establish a full lifecycle management system. The ministry said it expects the full lifecycle reviews to improve the likelihood of project success and management efficiency.

The ministry will prepare detailed directions for operating the system in line with the implementation of the revised laws. It will also swiftly proceed with system improvements, including enactment and revision of administrative rules to stipulate details such as review standards, methods and procedures.

Vice Prime Minister and Science and ICT Minister Kyung-hoon Bae (배경훈) said, "This legislative revision is institutional progress that secures the speed and strategic direction required of South Korea's R&D in the era of technological hegemony." He added, "Under the vice-prime-minister system, I will boldly innovate the R&D investment and management system to actively support the country in securing leadership in future technologies."