During Donald Trump's second term, the U.S. drastically cut its research and development (R&D) budget, causing repercussions that extend to international cooperation. Amid growing concerns that South Korea could be affected, Minister Yoo Sang-im of the Ministry of Science and ICT will inspect the direction of Korea-U.S. cooperation directly.
On the 9th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that Minister Yoo Sang-im plans to visit the United States on the 14th to discuss ways to maintain Korea-U.S. scientific cooperation with high-ranking officials, including the Director General of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Deputy Minister of Energy. In a briefing, Minister Yoo noted, "There are concerns about whether joint research can continue due to the cuts in U.S. R&D budgets, and I am going to understand that issue."
Concerns about international cooperation have been growing as the U.S. government released specific budget plans. According to the budget plan recently unveiled by the White House, the budgets for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are expected to be cut by 40% and 55%, respectively, compared to this year.
NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, and NSF has also played a central role in international cooperative research. Budget cuts could impact international collaboration. In fact, on the 1st, NIH announced that it would suspend new approvals for overseas sub-grants paid to foreign collaborators by domestic researchers until the end of September.
Overseas sub-grants are core funding for international collaborative research aimed at tackling global health issues such as childhood cancer, malaria, and tuberculosis, serving as a foundation for collaboration with researchers around the world. According to the academic journal Science, NIH approved over 3,600 overseas sub-grants in the last fiscal year, supporting approximately $400 million (about 560 billion won). As South Korea has received NIH support across various fields, the implications of this announcement are significant.
The moves by NSF are also concerning. NSF has already suspended support for over 1,000 grants totaling 1 trillion won and stated that future research support will be strictly limited based on institutional priorities. Researchers from several countries, including South Korea, cannot help but feel uncertainty about the continuation of joint projects with the United States.
A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "The recent budget cuts due to the U.S. R&D efficiency have raised complex uncertainties, such as sensitive country issues. While there is no noticeable impact yet, the budget has been specifically presented and there are considerable concerns on the ground, so we deemed it necessary to urge strong cooperation from the U.S."
Experts advised that a more sophisticated strategy is needed to achieve practical collaboration effects. An official from the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) stated, "While it's necessary for the government to show a willingness to cooperate, a strategy that precisely targets areas where the U.S. feels a practical need is essential. Actively participating in multinational coalitions like the Artemis program for lunar exploration could also be a realistic alternative to secure roles."