By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter


South Korea is outperforming Britain and France in nanotechnology to join the ranks of top four global powerhouses.

The other three leaders are the United States, Japan and Germany.

Citing a report from Lux Research, the Ministry of Science and Technology said South Korea earned high marks with a good mix of high government and corporate nanotech spending levels, and successful commercialization of the technology.

The United States is leading the world and Japan is right behind of it, followed by Germany and South Korea.

Taiwan and China are also making significant gains in the field, but Britain and France are falling behind as they have difficulties converting their academic achievements into practical use.

Nanotechnology refers to any technological developments on the nanometer scale, the scale of single atoms or small molecules. The South Korean companies and the government have been nurturing such technologies in various industries including semiconductors, medicine, chemicals and microscopic mechanics.

Currently, 16 percent of South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) is coming from high-tech manufacturing industries and the nation is spending 3 percent of GDP in research and development (R&D), the report said.

``We aim to become one of the world’s top three nations by 2015,’’ the ministry said in a statement.

The government has been rapidly increasing investment in nanotechnology from 83 billion won in 2001 to 277 billion won this year. Also the number of nanotechnology courses in universities almost doubled over past three years from 17 in 2002 to 31 in 2004.

As a result, South Korean scientists and engineers are feeling more confident with their technologies than ever. According to the government’s survey, the scientists believe that they have achieved 25 percent of what U.S. scientists did in nanotechnology in 2001. But the gap has decreased since then and now they believe Korea has achieved 62 percent of what America in 2004.

indizio@koreatimes.co.kr