Korea in 2008: research spending to be 5% of GDP by 2012. It was 3.69%, and by 2023, 4.94%
Lee Myung-bak administrationAugust 2008 · “577 Initiative”, the Lee Myung-bak government’s Science and Technology Basic Plan (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology)
«raise total R&D investment (government plus private) from 3.23% of GDP (2006) to 5% (2012)»
2012: 3.69% of GDP against a target of 5.00%; 2023: 4.94%.
Fact: World Bank, World Development Indicators (UNESCO Institute for Statistics), GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
The share grew every year except 2015 and 2016, and by 2023 Korea spent more on research than almost any country, yet it never reached 5%.
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In 2008 the Lee Myung-bak government adopted the «577 Initiative»: 5% of GDP for research, 7 key technologies, 7th place in the world in science. Here is how much Korea spent on research and development, government and companies together.
First the words: who said it, when and where, verbatim (translations are ours). Answer Yes or No, or just open the answer: the stamp is the outcome, below it what came of it. On the chart the dark line is the fact year by year up to the deadline, the pale one after it; the blue dashed line is the promised number from the year of the words to the deadline, the light band the time the promise gave; the ring on the line is when it was said, the ring in the stamp’s colour the fact in the deadline year, beside it how far it landed from the goal. The numbers on the right are the scale.
- Lee Myung-bak administration, “577 Initiative”, the Lee Myung-bak government’s Science and Technology Basic Plan (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology) quote
«총 R&D투자(정부+민간)를 GDP대비 3.23%(’06년)에서 5%(’12년)로 확대» — raise total R&D investment (government plus private) from 3.23% of GDP (2006) to 5% (2012)
Korea.kr (정책브리핑), «선진일류국가를 향한 이명박정부의 과학기술기본계획 - 577 Initiative», 교육과학기술부 (файл 080812_Plan.hwp)
- What happened did not come true
2012: 3.69% of GDP against a target of 5.00%; 2023: 4.94%.
World Bank, World Development Indicators (UNESCO Institute for Statistics), GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
Goal: the «577 Initiative», the basic plan for science and technology of Korea’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, August 2008. Fact: World Bank, World Development Indicators (UNESCO Institute for Statistics data), GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS. Outcome: «came true» — the promised number reached by the deadline («about» within 5%), an event happened before the end of the year promised; «exceeded» — with room to spare; «nearly» — short by no more than 10%; «late» — reached, but after the deadline; «did not come true» — not reached; «came true, then undone» — reached, then reversed. The deadline is the end of the year named.
Korea’s national statistics give higher shares than the World Bank series, but neither shows 5% by 2012. The previous government’s more modest goal of 3.5% by 2012 was reached: it is in the series on research spending goals.
A question for this picture
Is there a level beyond which more research money stops paying off?