R&D investment and headcount at South Korean ICT companies both rose in 2024 from a year earlier.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, together with the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), released the "2024 ICT Company Research and Development (R&D) Statistics". Based on the ministry's R&D activity survey, a national statistic, it separately analysed 17,324 ICT companies out of 69,042 survey targets to produce the results.

The survey showed R&D spending by South Korean ICT companies in 2024 rose 7.8 trillion won, or 13.8 percent, from a year earlier to 64.6 trillion won, recording the highest growth rate in the past six years. That is 60.6 percent of total industrial R&D spending of 106.7 trillion won. Expanded investment in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) was assessed to have driven the rise.

By funding source, private and foreign funding totalled 62.4 trillion won, accounting for 96.6 percent of the total and leading the increase. Government and public funding was 2.2 trillion won, or 3.4 percent, and was virtually flat. By industry, the information and communications broadcasting equipment industry accounted for most of the spending at 59.5 trillion won. Software (SW) development and production totalled 4.2 trillion won.

By company type, large companies invested 53.5 trillion won, accounting for 82.9 percent of the total, and small and medium-sized companies also increased investment to 2.5 trillion won. Venture companies, however, fell 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 5.2 trillion won.

By R&D stage, 45.2 trillion won was spent on development research, accounting for 70 percent of the total. Applied research was tallied at 10.9 trillion won, or 16.8 percent, and basic research at 8.5 trillion won, or 13.2 percent. The growth rate for basic research was 19 percent, higher than applied research at 16.1 percent.

R&D staffing also rose. Full-time equivalent (FTE) R&D personnel totalled 225,900, up 5,200, or 2.4 percent, from a year earlier, accounting for 48.0 percent of total industrial R&D personnel. By industry, the information and communications broadcasting equipment industry had the largest number at 161,000. SW development and production had 57,000, showing a high employment share relative to investment.

By degree, the number of master's and doctoral degree holders rose to 71,000, expanding their share to 33.2 percent and maintaining an upward trend. By gender, men still accounted for a high proportion at 82.9 percent, but women were 17.1 percent and showed an annual rising trend.

The government plans to pursue expanded investment in strategic technology areas such as AI and cybersecurity, along with identifying company-led R&D tasks and strengthening support for small and medium-sized and mid-sized firms. On the workforce side, it plans to continue expanding AI and SW talent development.