Korea’s recent slump in world innovation rankings (for the first time falling behind China) is a symptom of a much wider malaise in search of a bold antidote.

Reversing the slump
Peel back the recent slump in innovation, there looking back is also a tragically low birthrate, despondent youth culture, plus worrying data from the World Values Survey showing that Koreans’ belief that they have “freedom of choice and control over their lives” is in decline.

“After four decades of annual growth at a spectacular rate of 6–9 percent, Korea’s annual economic growth has plateaued at 2–3 percent or less since 2012…Korea also has structural vulnerabilities: it relies substantially on one main export product (semiconductors), manufactured by one or two major companies (e.g., Samsung), dependent on a single major market (China), and reliant for critical raw materials on a country with which it is still in a trade war (Japan).”

In response, Korea, with the fourth largest economy in Asia—tenth worldwide—announced, in July of 2020, its National Strategy for a Great Transformation: The Korean New Deal. As then-President Moon commented: “The Korean New Deal will set the foundation for Korea’s next 100 years.”

Moon added: “The government has set a goal of turning the nation’s robotics industry into the fourth-largest player in the world by 2023.” It didn’t happen, together with a few other “didn’t happens”.

What next?

Korea might reverse the innovation slump if it took a daring course of action that involved the entire country, especially if Korea went bold and big enough, which might well be the key to reversing much of what else ails Korea.  

Bold and big enough might also ignite fervor among its citizens to support the government effort. The Korean New Deal of 2020 had the scope and enthusiasm of something large and extraordinary and very important to the nation’s well-being.

Maybe what’s needed is to focus on specialized targets, targets that the country does well and are of high visibility, yet in need of more oomph! Automation technology, robotics, and AI catalyzed in an all-out national effort hold great promise for Korea. Why not go all-out on them? And package the trio just as boldly, something like the World’s First Mega Startup in Automation Technology, Robotics, and AI. Something with snap enough to grab world attention and buy-in for the products resulting from the audacious plan.

There’s a formidable high-tech infrastructure already in place to work with. Plus, new areas of economic vitality and interest like that of Seongsu-dong—the “Brooklyn of Seoul”— and the Pangyo Valley, home of Korea’s high-tech startups, and Busan with its IT focus. And let’s not forget Daegu City and Korea’s Robot Technopolis.  

If government, academia, startups, and the large business conglomerates (the chaebol) all worked in concert and directed themselves as a unified force, it could well create enough oomph to not only re-elevate the nation’s innovation ranking but also to create a passageway forward for long-lasting national success.

It’s not something new. Korea has already done it once before, which came to be known as The Miracle on the Han River. Does it need another?

Backstory
You’ve got to go back to 1961 to find a comparable effort at a Korean nationwide technology advance. It was tabbed “The Big Push” by the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (SCNR), and was instituted by the highly controversial Park Chung-Hee, who in 1963 narrowly became president.

Korea in 1961 was in sorry condition. “Korea was by all standards a failed state after the Korean War (1950-53). GDP per capita in South Korea in early 1960’s was below $100. Lower than Haiti, Ethiopia or Yemen, making South Korea one of the poorest countries in the world. Infrastructure built during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) was destroyed during the war. All of Korea’s natural resources remained in the North, as well as its industrial facilities.”

Korea needed something, and that something came in the form of Park Chung-Hee, and his first Five-Year Plan called “The Big Push”.

“Under Park’s leadership, Korea developed an export-driven model of economic growth wherein special incentives were provided to large business conglomerates (the chaebol) in the form of preferential loans to manufacture goods for sale abroad. Korea’s economy began to take off, regularly achieving double-digit growth rates by the mid-1960s.

That was the impetus to Korea’s rise as an industrial and technology powerhouse. A spectacular feat that is today loosely referred to as The Miracle on the Han River.

The innovation key
“Koreans themselves would tell you that they’re not very good at R&D — even though, from an international perspective, the country is obviously a stellar performer,” said Sung-Young Kim, a political scientist at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia

Although Korea has fast-tracked itself to success with K-Pop, cinema, fashion, beauty, consumer electronics, automotive, and medicine, Korea’s 30 years of spectacular past successes, are seemingly over.

Korea’s journey to global innovation leadership
Korea’s rise as a global leader in innovation is nothing short of extraordinary, considering its difficult past. For much of the 20th century, the country was a Japanese colony and later ravaged by war.

Yet, in recent decades, Korea has emerged as one of the world’s most innovative nations. Its rapid transformation has been driven by heavy investments in research and development (R&D), collaboration between government, academia, and industry, and a cultural dedication to technological advancement.

However, despite its earlier success, Korea has seen its innovative edge slip in recent years. To regain its position, Korea must address key challenges and reinvigorate its approach to fostering innovation.

Korea’s journey toward becoming an innovation powerhouse began in the 1960s. After the Korean War, the country was one of the world’s poorest nations, with an economy dependent on agriculture and foreign aid. The turning point came under the leadership of President Park Chung-Hee, who implemented a series of Five-Year Economic Development Plans focused on industrialization and technological development. A pivotal moment was the establishment of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 1966, followed by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1967.

President Park’s administration encouraged the growth of large industrial conglomerates known as chaebols, such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, by protecting them from competition and pushing them to invest heavily in R&D.