Legal and Policy Study on Government-Funded Research Institutes in Science and Technology

Government-funded research institutes in science and technology play a pivotal role within Korea’s research and development ecosystem. However, recent changes in the legal framework necessitate a re-examination of their operational structures. In January 2024, research institutes under the Act on the Establishment, Operation and Fostering of Government-Funded Science and Technology Research Institutes (hereinafter, the “Government-Funded S&T Institutes Act”) were excluded from the scope of “public institutions” under the Act on the Management of Public Institutions, and institutions such as the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute were reorganized as affiliated research institutes of the newly established Korea Aerospace Administration. These developments have significantly reshaped the institutional environment of government-funded science and technology research institutes. This study analyzes the legal status and governance structures of such institutes, with the objective of deriving law-and-policy reform proposals grounded in constitutional and statutory principles. By applying the theory of mission-oriented innovation policy, this study develops a new operational model that reflects constitutional foundations. Government-funded science and technology research institutes are established as special corporations under individual statutes. Despite their removal from the regulatory framework of the Act on the Management of Public Institutions, they remain in a transitional status, subject to various legal and regulatory constraints associated with public institutions. In this context, the study proposes an institutional design whereby research institutes fulfill concrete state-assigned missions while enjoying enhanced operational autonomy. Constitutional provisions, notably Article 127 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, provide normative grounding for mission-oriented innovation policy and serve as a constitutional basis for redefining the role of government-funded science and technology research institutes. Yet, under the current Government-Funded S&T Institutes Act, institutional structures hinder the effective transmission of national missions from central administrative agencies, while government oversight remains predominantly budgetary and fiscal in nature. A transition toward a system centered on the assignment of state missions, rather than budgetary control, is necessary. Moreover, the absence of explicit legal guarantees for institutional autonomy and researchers'’ academic freedom undermines the comparative advantages of government-funded institutes vis-à-vis national research institutes. Based on these analyses, this study advances three law-and-policy reform measures: (i) the design and delivery of specific missions aligned with constitutional state objectives; (ii) the transformation of governmental oversight from budgetary control to mission assignment; and (iii) the establishment of explicit statutory guarantees for institutional and researcher autonomy. Ultimately, this study presents a legal framework that positions government-funded science and technology research institutes not merely as beneficiaries of state funding, but as constitutional instruments for realizing national objectives. In doing so, it underscores the necessity of constructing a new legal foundation that embodies the philosophy of mission-oriented innovation policy.