Biotechnology in Korea

In the beginning of the 1980s the Korean government found that biotechnology is the core industry to enable economic growth. The government had been importing technologies from other developed countries in the 1960s and 1970s, but in the 1980s the Korean government wanted to go all in for domestic innovation by making specific R&D programs which were developed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).1 In 1982 the biotechnology promotion policy was made making biotechnology one of the key technologies MOST wanted to go for, this was also the year when Korea Biotechnological Research Association was established. The year after, in 1983, the Genetic Engineering Promotion Act was enacted. The name was changed later to Biotechnological Promotion Law and it was established to hold up the legal grounds for biotechnological promotion.2

The Genetic Engineering center was established in 1985. It later changed its name to Korea research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) and is currently located in Daejeon. It was established to do R&D on bioscience and biotechnology and to use this knowledge to carry out research projects together with other research institutes, academics, and domestic/foreign businesses.3 KRIBB has been successful in many areas; one of them is the strategic alliance with Pfizer, the leading pharmaceutical agency in the world, as the only Korean institution. Pfizer also invested USD 2 million in KRIBB in 2009. Another achievement is the development of the KW-100 which is an influenza virus-preventing biomaterial which has resulted in a 30 bill won agreement.4

In 1991 the Bioindustry Association of Korea was established and supported by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Its mission is to advertise the process of biotechnology by making the industrial research skills better and strengthen its commercialization.5 The year after, in 1992, the Highly Advanced National Project was put in force by MOST with the prospect of making Korea one of the top seven technologically advanced nations. The thought was not to go all in for all the technological areas, but select some strategic areas to center the R&D support against to compete against