South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT on Tuesday held the 14th National Strategic Technology Special Committee meeting, chaired by Park In-gyu (박인규), vice minister for science and technology innovation.

The committee reviewed and deliberated items including a draft plan on the direction for upgrading the national strategic technology framework and a draft plan on the direction for advancing the NEXT project to lead national strategic technologies.

The government has continued efforts to lay the foundation to foster national strategic technologies. Last month, at a meeting of ministers related to science and technology, it approved directions to overhaul an all-of-government technology management system and strengthen cooperation, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy worked together to establish a national technology management system to support strategic technologies.

The direction for upgrading the national strategic technology framework reviewed at this meeting is a matter in which the Ministry of Science and ICT, for the first time, is pushing to reorganise the strategic technology framework in line with cooperation under the all-of-government technology management system. Specific details will be disclosed after the agenda is deliberated at a deliberation meeting of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council to be held later this month.

Park said the meeting discussed the direction national strategic technology fostering policy should take. He said the government would move to secure a technology advantage by upgrading the national strategic technology framework and updating innovation roadmaps by field, among other steps.