The government said on the 28th it will invest 2 trillion won over four years starting next year to support research and development (R&D) to foster the "five hubs and three special growth engines." The five hubs and three special growth engines is a strategy to reorganize the nation into five mega-regions (the capital region, the southeast region, the Daegu–North Gyeongsang region, the central region, and the Honam region) and three special self-governing provinces (Gangwon, North Jeolla, and Jeju). The policy is to select two to three strategic industries in each region as growth engines and concentrate on deregulation, talent development, and fiscal and fund support.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources held the "first industry R&D strategic planning and investment council 2026" on the day and announced an "industry R&D innovation plan" that includes these details. The plan focuses on shifting the industry R&D structure, which has been operated mainly with the capital region and small-scale projects, to large, region-centered strategic projects.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) set a goal of "fostering 20 five hubs and three special growth engines by 2030." It will link growth engines and advanced industry-specialized graduate schools and industry–academia joint labs within regions to push forward technology development and talent cultivation at the same time. MOTI will newly select six regionally specialized graduate schools this year and build 30 industry–academia joint labs by 2030.
In crisis-hit petrochemical industry regions such as Yeosu, Ulsan, and Seosan, it will push the "K-chemical industry grand transition project," an R&D support program worth 1.5 trillion won, for five years starting in 2027.
In manufacturing, the focus is on an AI transition. The policy is to create new markets by supporting "embedded AI," which integrates AI into existing products and services. Notably, to develop core technologies for fully autonomous navigation, 450 billion won in state funds will be invested from this year through 2032. In addition, in key sectors such as semiconductors, automobiles, and secondary batteries, the number of AI factories will increase from the current 100 to 500 by 2030.
To strengthen industrial competitiveness, it will introduce the "industrial leap technology project," under which demand-side corporations directly select cooperating small and midsize to mid-tier companies. If corporations jointly propose R&D, demonstration, and mass-production plans, the government will support them as a package by linking not only R&D expense support but also regulatory exceptions and infrastructure building. The project will select one to two tasks this year for a pilot run, then be fully pursued as large projects worth 50 billion to 100 billion won starting in 2027.
R&D deregulation will proceed in parallel. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) decided to launch "regulation-free R&D," which identifies regulatory hurdles from the project planning stage and grants special exceptions while pushing R&D simultaneously. It also decided to reduce the administrative burden on project performers by introducing self-settlement of research funds and expanding exemptions for supporting documents for minor settlements.