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part of report by Kahaner on InfoSci 1993, Seoul Korea, 21-22 Oct 1993
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:58:16 -0500
From: Dr. David K. Kahaner US Office of Naval Research Asia (From outside US): 23-17, 7-chome, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106 Japan (From within US): Unit 45002, APO AP 96337-0007 Tel: +81 3 3401-8924, Fax: +81 3 3403-9670 Email: kahaner () cs titech ac jp Re: InfoSci 1993, Seoul Korea, 21-22 Oct 1993 ABSTRACT. InfoScience '93, the International Conference in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Korea Information Science Society (KISS), held 21-22 Oct 1993 in Seoul is reviewed. We also make some overview comments about Korean science activities. OVERVIEW REMARKS ABOUT KOREAN SCIENCE ACTIVITIES Based on my observations of Korean science and technology, I have been saying for the past year or so that, while things are still moving forward, the rapid developments of a few years ago seem to have slowed. The Korean Government appears to agree. Recently the Government passed a Commercial Technology Development Base Subsidies Law, which establishes national technology policies. This will attempt to "integrate" policies of strategic technology development, funding, and other aspects of the country's "commercial technology drive." The Government will also sponsor "commercial technology promotion meetings" for different sectors. These meetings are to be chaired by the Minister of Trade and Industry and attended by representatives of industry, research institutes, government and universities. Much of this is the result of a study that was performed by the Ministry comparing the overall technology level of Korea relative to other countries. Their conclusion was that Korea's technology deficit relative to its economic competitors is large. Rating the technology level of advanced industrialized countries at 100, Korea earned a composite score of 42.6. By sectors the scores are listed below. However, these numbers probably reflect the state of mind of researchers involved in the study as much as any quantitative measures and thus should not be taken too seriously. Medical instruments 56.7 Spinning & Weaving 55.0 Industrial Design & Packing 53.0 Precision Chemistry 49.6 Optical instruments 48.8 Textiles & Dyeing 48.4 Instrument Controls 46.7 Computers (HW & SW) 46.4 Industrial Machinery 46.0 Electronic Parts & Materials 45.6 Machine Tools & Robots 44.9 Heavy Electrical Equipment 44.5 Semiconductors & Equipment 42.6 Communications Equipment 42.3 Articles of Daily Living 41.7 Perto & Hi-polymer Chemistry 41.6 Automobiles 40.5 Non-ferrous Metals 40.4 Textile Raw Materials 40.0 Household Appliances 39.5 Environmental Technology 39.0 Shipbuilding 38.9 Cryogenics & high pressure instruments 38.8 Ceramics 37.6 Chemical Products 37.3 Basic Production Technology 35.9 Automation 35.8 Iron & Steel Materials 21.6 Other Ministry figures show that Korea invested US$5.5B in R&D in 1991, compared with US$83.5B for Japan and US$145.7B for the US. Korea registered 7800 patents in 1991, compared with 59000 for Japan and 90000 for the US. In 1992 Japan obtained 23481 US patents, compared with 1195 for Taiwan and 543 for Korea. The degree of economic growth attributable to scientific and technological progress (however that is measured) is 41.9% in the US, 74.9% in Japan, 32.4% in Taiwan, but only 19.4% in Korea. According to the Ministry, these figures show that Korea not only has lost its competitive advantage in labor costs, but also lacks the technological edge needed to maintain its exports. (Korea is no longer considered a "low wage" country, and some industries that were booming in years past, such as athletic show manufacture, are now in very serious decline. For economic development it is important for Korea to replace these industries with those producing more high-tech products.) But, as a result of neglecting R&D Korea has almost no "wellspring technology" of its own, the Ministry maintains. I cannot verify general statements about Korean technology, but there is ample anecdotal evidence of Korean efforts to import technology as well as develop it internally. In the former case I note the long and protracted discussions leading to the selection of French train technology to be used to help build Korea's new high speed rail line between Seoul and Pusan. The choice of France over Japan was primarily based on the willingness of the French organizations to transfer technology to Korea. (The Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy is hoping that this will allow Korea to become a major exporter of railway cars to China and Southeast Asia. Some Korean scientists, however, felt that it would have been better for Korea to develop this technology internally as one of the HAN projects, see below.) At a more modest level, I note the agreement recently between the Korea Institute of Machinery and Metals (KIMM) and the Canadian firm Servo Robot Inc (SRI) to allow KIMM access to SRI's laser vision system technology for use in welding, with the hope of developing welding robots. In the other direction, Korea Heavy Industries & Construction (KHIC) is said to have recently developed a hydrocracking reactor used for dissolving heavy oil and removing sulphur, a key facility in oil refining. The world market for such reactors is about US$750M of which 80% is dominated by two Japanese makers and the remaining 20% by three European manufacturers. KHIC hopes to have a chance to get a significant share of this market. Taedok Science Town, adjacent to the city of Taejon, about 90 minutes train ride from Seoul is modelled after Tsukuba in Japan. Since 1973 the Korean government has spent over US$3B to build R&D facilities there. These include the Electronics & Telecommunications Research Inst, Korea Inst of S&T, Genetic Engineering Center, Korea Ginseng & Tobacco Res Inst, Korea Res Inst of Chemicals Technology, Korea Inst of Energy & Resources, Korea Atomic Energy Research Inst, Korea Advanced Inst of S&T (KAIST), and others. Current plans are to set up a technology innovation center at KAIST to bridge industry and academia. The Taejeon International Exposition (EXPO'93), an exhibition of state- of-the-art Korean and International industrial technologies, featured participants from 112 countries and 28 international organizations in a "Technology Olympics". The real goal of EXPO'93 was, however, was to show the nation and world that Korea is ready to join the ranks of the advanced industrialized countries (i.e. G-7 nations) by 2001. Highlights of the exhibition were the science and technology pavilions of Korea's giant industry groups, such as Hyundai, Daewoo and Samsung which exhibited their own prize R&D products, including Hyundai's magnetic levitated train. EXPO also featured a few products of joint R&D efforts among the big companies. One example is the high definition TV system, an area in which Korea has been working hard to compete against Japan and US. The EXPO formally closed on 7 Nov 93 but the popular science and technology pavilions will remain open and be incorporated into the Taeduck Science Town next spring. The Taejeon EXPO'93 presented a good forum for witnessing and assessing status of the Korean industrial technology development to see if Korea is really ready to attain their national goal by 2001. Of course it is not that simple to make this kind of judgement by simply seeing the industry exhibits, impressive as they were. EXPO'93 seemed to be a huge success on the basis of massive attendance, especially by the school children who marvel at impressive shows, but more significantly, who get a valuable lesson on benefits and importance of technology as the main vehicle that will carry Korea into the ranks of the advanced nations, perhaps during their lifetime.
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- part of report by Kahaner on InfoSci 1993, Seoul Korea, 21-22 Oct 1993 David Farber (Nov 14)