S. Korea ranks 12th in OECD's science, technology capabilities scale

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's science and technology capabilities ranked 12th among the 30-strong Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a state-run think tank said Wednesday.

The Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) said the country
received a total of 11.28 points in its Composite Science Technology Innovation
Index (COSTII) evaluation scheme, which is higher than the OECD's average of
9.64.
It added that the country's ranking has remained unchanged from 2007 onwards,
although South Korea's COSTII numbers have risen steadily against the United
States that ranks at the top of the scale.
The numbers are calculated by examining 31 different categories covering such
areas as overall research environment, support given by both the public and
private sectors, and quality of work carried out by scientists and engineers.
The government, meanwhile, said earlier in the day that Seoul will spend little
over 2 trillion won to trains engineers and scientists in 2010.
Of this sum, 1.7 trillion won will go to the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technology, with 106.2 billion won and 77.6 billion won to be allocated to the
Small and Medium Business Administration and Ministry of Knowledge Economy
respectively.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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