South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said on April 21 it secured an additional 6 billion won in the 2026 supplementary budget for the R&D Special Zone Promotion program and will fully pursue “5 hubs, 3 special R&D special zones deep-tech support.”

The program aims to contribute to regional economic recovery and livelihood stability at a time when the regional economy is struggling due to the Middle East war. The 6 billion won provided through the supplementary budget is to help deep-tech start-ups and the stable growth of early-stage start-ups.

Under the start-up support track, public research institutions such as government-funded research institutes and universities will work with private-sector expert groups by field, including investment and incubation, to identify deep-tech technologies with high commercialization potential. It will form about 40 prospective start-up teams and focus support on the full start-up process, including business model verification and establishing market entry strategies.

Under the early-stage start-up growth support track, it will support technology advancement for a total of 16 deep-tech-based early-stage start-ups. Research institutions that hold core deep-tech technologies will take part to support prototype production and performance improvement, testing and certification, and commercialization.

Eun-young Lee (이은영), director general for Research Results and Innovation at the ministry, said the supplementary budget is expected to support revitalization of technology start-ups in deep tech and contribute to livelihood stability through job creation and revitalization of regional economies. She said the ministry plans to further strengthen technology start-ups and support for regional innovation-driven growth through the R&D Special Zone Promotion program.