South Korea ranks ninth in global tech competitiveness, drawing attention to China's research and development performance.

Korean media: South Korea ranks ninth in technological competitiveness, third in the US, where is China?

On December 16, the Korean media 'Seoul Economic Daily' published an article stating that global assessments show South Korea ranks ninth in technological competitiveness. The world's first place is China, and South Korea's R&D investment is significantly behind other countries in both quantity and quality. In major research institutions within South Korea, Seoul National University ranks first.

Recently, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Leiden University Centre for Science and Technology Research in the Netherlands jointly released the "Science and Technology Scorecard 2025," which comprehensively analyzed the research performance of major national research institutions using various indicators. The results of this year's assessment are based on survey data from 2020 to 2023.

Following China, the EU ranks second, followed by the United States, India, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, and South Korea. China's paper citations reached 2.33 million, about 75% higher than the US (1.33 million). Notably, the number of citations for Chinese papers increased by 31.6% compared to the previous survey (2018-2021), which was 1.77 million. During the same period, South Korea's paper citations increased slightly, from 230,000 to 240,000.

In the top ten countries by citation count, the UK leads with a share of 13.9%, followed by the US (12.2%) and China (10.8%). South Korea has a low share, only 6.9%.

China also made significant progress in the ranking of public research institutions. The Chinese Academy of Sciences ranks first, followed by the French National Center for Scientific Research, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Korean National Research Foundation for Science and Technology, respectively, in second, third, and fourth places.

This assessment covered 359 universities, hospitals, and research institutions in South Korea. Seoul National University ranks first, followed by the Korean National Research Foundation for Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea University, Hanyang University, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

Original: toutiao.com/article/1851650373710027/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.