Bibliometric analysis of Korean scientific and technological activities and collaboration with Canada

This report contains three parts. Part 1 presents an overview of the evolution of the Republic of Korea scientific and technological (S-T) papers and patents (1980-1995) and a more detailed analysis of the recent evolution (1991-1995).  Part 2 analyses the scientific collaboration of Korea with other countries while Part 3 focuses on the collaboration with Canada.  This report uses the metric system and Korea, Korean and South Korea refer to the Republic of Korea. 

• Between 1980 and 1995, the number of scientific papers by authors from the Republic of Korea grew at 23% per year meaning that the number doubled every 3,4 years. During that period, the number of U.S. patents granted to South Korean inventors grew at 39% per year and the number of patents doubled every 2,1 years. 

• Given these trends and those observed for Canada, the level of U.S. patents granted to Korean inventors will equal that of Canada in 1997 while the number of scientific papers will reach the same level by 2006. 

• The scientific production of South Korea emphasises papers in the fields of engineering and technology, chemistry and physics.  By comparison, Canada emphasises the fields of earth and space, biology and mathematics. 

• In the domains of invention and technology, as measured by patent data, South Korea concentrates her activities in information and communication technology and this could be turned into a competitive advantage in the growing multimedia sector.  The sectors emphasised by South Korea comprise radio and television, electrical components as well as communication equipment.  By comparison, Canada emphasises industrial machinery as well as motor vehicles and equipment. 

• All those trends considered, the Republic of Korea should be able to reach her target to enter the G7 of leading countries in science and technology in the early 21st. century. 

• Canada occupies rank 9 and accounts for 2,5 % of all scientific collaborations with Korea. This percentage is lower than the 4,2 % share of scientific papers by Canada in the SCI database between 1991 and 1995.  The rate of growth of collaboration between Canada and Korea is the lowest among the most important collaborating countries. 

• The collaboration between Canada and South Korea is more concentrated in the fields of earth and space, clinical medicine and, to a lesser extent, biomedical research and chemistry.  If we exclude a series of 27 papers in the field of high energy physics (project HERA), there is no real pattern of sustained growth in the period 1991-1995, except in clinical medicine. 

• Given these trends, Canada is likely to become one of the more marginal collaborators of Korea.