South Korea’s benchmark stock index, the KOSPI, reached a new milestone by briefly surpassing the 4,500-point mark on Tuesday. This achievement came after a recent climb past the 4,400-point level, primarily driven by gains in technology stocks. Despite opening lower due to profit-taking, the index later rose as institutional and retail investors showed interest in technology and other major shares.
The KOSPI was reported at 4,491.98 as of 2:08 p.m., marking a 0.77 percent increase of 34.46 points from the previous session. In other news, data from the Ministry of Science and ICT revealed that one in ten lead researchers engaged in state-funded research and development projects lost their roles in 2024 due to significant budget reductions during the previous administration led by Yoon Suk Yeol.
The total count of lead researchers in government-funded R&D initiatives dropped to 41,902 in 2024, a decrease of 11.2 percent from the previous year. Government spending on R&D for the year amounted to 26.2 trillion won (US$18.9 billion), down by 9.6 percent compared to the previous year, with the number of projects declining by 13 percent to 60,696. Additionally, the total number of participating researchers fell by 10.8 percent year-on-year to 276,215 in 2024.
This decline is attributed to a substantial decrease in government R&D projects following budget cuts, emphasizing a transition towards larger-scale projects that limited opportunities for smaller initiatives. The Ministry of Science and ICT has established a task force to evaluate the impact of R&D budget reductions, focusing on changes in project numbers and sizes, as well as the researchers affected.
