Strategies for R&D Cooperation in Korea's Private Firm Sector

In Korea, the private sector plays a core role in the technology research development area. The ratio of the private sector in R&D expenditure was 75.7% in 2013. The total R&D investment ratio including the public sector to GDP ratio was 4.15%, recording the highest position in the world, followed by Israel (3.93%), Japan (3.35%), and Germany (2.98%). Even though Korean economic actors have spent higher R&D expenditures, their major performances for R&D have been recognized as being insufficient. Several issues have been raised as structural problems. Contrary to public expectations, for example, the contributions of their R&D activities have been lower for new growth engines of the Korean economy and the structural enhancements of the existing industries. In addition, small and mid-firms still have weaker R&D capabilities.This paper analyzes the cooperative R&D networks from the perspective of the private sector and suggests some policy directions for R&D promotion based on the analysis. To this end, the current status and problems of their cooperative networks are described in detail. Finally, in order to resolve such problems, this paper suggests several government support policies to promote the cooperative R&D networking of the private firm sector