The government is moving in earnest to foster the brain future industry, including brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). It plans to lay the foundation for next-generation medical and digital industries through a national research and development (R&D) strategy that spans everything from invasive brain implant technology to noninvasive wearable devices, neurotherapeutics, and the building of brain data.
The Ministry of Science and ICT on the 18th held the 44th Comprehensive Biotechnology Policy Deliberation Committee meeting and, together with related ministries, announced the "National R&D strategy for the brain future industry." The strategy was prepared with the aim of connecting government R&D achievements since the 1998 enactment of the Brain Research Promotion Act to industry and services that people can feel.
The core is fostering BCI technology. BCI is a technology that decodes human brain signals to control computers or machines, and it is seen as potentially useful for communication and device operation for people with spinal cord injuries, sensory restoration, and treatment of neurological diseases. Recently overseas, as clinical research and commercialization attempts to control computers by implanting chips in the brain have continued, competition over related technologies has also accelerated.
Accordingly, the government decided to promote the "seven mission-centered projects that people can feel" starting in 2027. The seven projects include technology that allows people with quadriplegia to operate computers and machines with thought alone; treatment of dementia, Parkinson's disease, and depression through deep brain stimulation; and development of sensory-restoring implants such as for vision. In addition, artificial arms and legs, artificial retinas and hearing devices, brainwave-based exoskeletons and mobility devices, emotion and sensation-implementing virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), and drone and robot control were also presented as targets for promotion.
Invasive BCI will focus on securing safety and clinical outcomes in hard-to-treat medical fields such as spinal cord injury and visual impairment. Noninvasive BCI will use wearable devices such as smart glasses and smartwatches as platforms to expand its applications beyond medicine to entertainment and defense.
To reduce the gap between technology development and commercialization, the government will establish a project-specific dedicated PM system and operate an industry-academia-research-hospital collaboration structure. Through a regulatory cooperation system with the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, it will speed up clinical work, and it will also promote a BCI alliance involving research institutes, startups, and related corporations. Support will also be expanded for key component technologies such as brain implant electrode materials, brain network-specialized semiconductors, and brain signal decoding technologies.
The government plans to increase the likelihood of success in new drug development by strengthening investment in highly versatile platform technologies such as crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB), neuro-rejuvenation, and brain Organoid. For diseases such as dementia, autism, and depression, for which fundamental treatments are still insufficient, it will continue to support basic research and strengthen connections with clinical trial support.
A brain industry cluster centered on regional hubs will also be promoted. Daegu will be developed as a hub that aggregates brain research infrastructure centered on the Korea Brain Research Institute, and the Osong-Daejeon region will be fostered as an open value chain development area linking the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), KAIST, and the Osong Bio Industry Cluster.
The convergence of brain science and artificial intelligence (AI) was also included in the strategy. The government will promote the development of brain network-specialized foundation models trained on EEG and brain imaging data related to cognitive, sensory, and motor functions, and in the long term it set a goal of realizing a Digital Twin of the human brain. To this end, starting in 2027, it plans to launch in earnest a "brain map building project" to secure large-scale brain data.
Institutional improvement tasks for the industrial growth base were also presented. To meet the demand for laboratory animal resources, the government will expand breeding and experiment hubs by region, and in the long term it will consider the possibility of replacing animal experiments by using brain Organoid and the Digital Twin. In addition, it will concurrently establish clinical research guidelines and build an inter-ministerial regulatory and promotion cooperation system.
Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said, "In the future, there is a possibility that an era of human-AI interfaces will open in which AI is used not through keyboards or smartphones but by connecting directly with the brain," and added, "We will preemptively invest in future core technologies, including BCI, to secure competitiveness."