The government will fully launch the "NEXT Project" to foster national strategic technologies. The plan is to strengthen national-level research and development (R&D) and public-private cooperation systems focused on artificial intelligence (AI) transition, economic security, and future innovation technologies.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Planning and Budget held the "NEXT project initiative for leading national strategic technologies" on the 18th at Lotte Hotel Seoul. About 100 people, including major corporations, universities, research institutes, and officials from related ministries, attended the event.
NEXT is an acronym for "New, Emerging, and eXponential Technology," meaning next-generation technologies that are newly emerging and have strong potential for rapid growth. Through this project, the government set goals to secure world-class technologies by 2030 and to preempt world-first technologies by 2040.
To that end, the government reorganized the existing national strategic technology framework. It compared 513 technologies scattered across various laws, including national strategic technologies, new growth and fundamental technologies, national advanced strategic technologies, and national core technologies, to categorize common technology areas and identify key domains needing support. This year, 8.6 trillion won will be invested in national strategic technology R&D.
The newly organized NEXT national strategic technologies consist of 55 technologies across 10 fields. The government plans to advance them in consolidation with three missions: leading AI transition (AX), securing leadership in trade and security, and laying the groundwork for future innovation. Technologies needed for economic security and industrial transformation, such as materials and energy, intelligent power grids, and defense semiconductors, are also included.
At the initiative event, they also discussed field-specific projects and directions to be newly pursued starting in 2027. Core programs of the NEXT Project are expected to be designated as "national strategic technology R&D programs" by the end of the year. Once designated, the programs will receive priority review in the R&D budget allocation process and support such as easing the cost-sharing ratio for corporations.
To carry out the project, the government will also form the "NEXT Alliance." This is a cooperative framework with participation from ministries and the private sector, operated through field-specific councils and project support teams. The councils will discuss technology development status and improvement tasks, and the support teams will take on the role of consolidation across finance, investment, and international cooperation so that research outcomes can carry through to industry and the market.
Participants at the event agreed that the government, corporations, universities, and research institutes must move together to secure strategic technologies. Corporations should present market demand and on-site industrial tasks, universities should handle talent development and basic and leading research, and research institutes should lead long-term and challenging R&D, they said.
Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, said, "Recently, the United States has even moved to control Anthropic's latest models and restrict their export," and noted, "As independent technological capacity grows more important, the government, academia, and research institutes must join forces to secure technological sovereignty and navigate this period well."
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to operate field-specific councils and project support teams starting in the second half of this year and to prepare an innovation roadmap for national strategic technologies. Project outcomes will be reviewed by the Special Committee on National Strategic Technologies, and progress will be shared through future national strategic technology summits.