Affiliations: [a] School of Business, Government and Technology, Kean University, Union, New Jersey 07083, USA, Tel.: 908-527-2489; Fax: 201-568–6040; E-mail: younkim@ aol.com | [b] Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, P.O. Box 205 Cheongryang, Seoul, Korea, Tel.: 822-962-6211; Fax: 822-965-4293; E-mail: jungys@ kiet.kr
Abstract: With more international trade, business, and technology, the World Trade Organization will promote the world economy toward globalized markets, more consolidation and greater efficiency in production. That is, national boundaries signify much less than they used to in terms of the flow of technology. Having the changing position of technology policy in Japan and the United States, Korea has to comply with the new situation of global economy, reformulate its technology policy, and promote its technological collaboration with the United States. In the era of global competition, Korea can no longer rely on technology and R&D imports. It has to evolve its own R&D institutions, reformulate its technology policy and re-engineer its corporations. In Korea, the government has deliberately and directly undertaken a very active policy towards creating a climate conducive to enhancing science and technology for catching-up high technology. This paper examines the ways in which Korea’s industrial innovation has been undertaken from imported technology. Korea with a modern educational system and a strong internal scientific and engineering community, can promote its own technological innovation complemented by technological transfer. As a medium-level-tech country, Korea might actively involve US investment as a partner so as to facilitate joint ventures of R&D and production.
