Government Outlines 20-Year Plan to Secure Technology Sovereignty

The government has officially launched the '2045 Science and Technology Frontier Strategy Committee' to establish technology sovereignty and leap forward as one of the world's top three science and technology powers by 2045.

This strategy committee, targeting 2045, the 100th anniversary of national liberation, will formulate a national mid- to long-term future strategy, identifying science and technology challenges through its future blueprint and proposing national policy directions. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Gyunghoon and KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung will jointly serve as chairs.

The Ministry of Science and ICT pushed for the committee's launch driven by a sense of urgency, recognizing the critical need for mid- to long-term strategies for future core technologies such as AI, bio, quantum, energy, and space, in order to survive global hegemony competition and overcome growth engines stuck in a few sectors like semiconductors.

The committee plans to proactively discover frontier technologies that will lead the future across eight divisions: △Future Design △Superintelligence/Hyperconnectivity △Life/Medical △Climate/Environment/Energy △Future Mobility △Space/Deep Sea △Future Materials/Manufacturing △Innovation Policy.

Starting with the launch ceremony, the committee will fully operationalize its divisions, aiming to identify science and technology challenges and establish a draft strategy within this year, with the final version slated for public release around April next year.