ABSTRACT
This study aims at investigating the public research system under the people’s and the participatory government (1998–2007) in Korea. It critically examines the reforms carried out on Government Research Institutes (GRIs) by the people’s participatory government. The reform included the separation of the GRIs from their ministries in 1999 following complaints that GRIs enjoyed little autonomy as ministries intervened too much in their research activities. The separation of GRIs from their subordinate ministries was a policy decision taken to activate and increase the performance and efficiency of GRIs. Under the research councils introduced by the people’s participatory government R&D performance (measured by publications and patent applications) of GRIs improved strongly.
