According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) The South Korean government invested a total of 18.9 trillion won (US$16.5 billion) in research and development (R&D) in 2015, up 7 percent from a year earlier, an official tally showed Monday.

The government supported 54,433 tasks in 639 projects nationwide, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

It reported the data to the National Science & Technology Council.

Ministry officials pointed out that the 7-percent on-year increase in R&D spending is higher than the 5.7-percent hike in the overall government budget.

"This reflects the 'creative economy' government's resolve to raise the innovative capability of national science and technology by one notch through the expansion of R&D investment," Park Phil-hwan, a senior ministry official, said.

By technology, 2.9 trillion won, or 16.4 percent of the total R&D budget, was used for the machinery sector, 1.8 trillion won (10.3 percent) for ICT, 1.7 trillion won (9.7 percent) for the electricity and electronics field, and 1.5 trillion won (8.7 percent) for the healthcare industry.

The number of participating scientists rose 3.8 percent on-year to 34,145. Among them, 29,309, or 85.8 percent, were men and 4,836 were women, said the ministry.

lcd@yna.co.kr

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