Denmark engages innovation cooperation with South Korea

A new political direction in South Korea will now ensure that it is not only the country’s largest companies that benefit from large research and education investment, but also small and medium-sized enterprises. The aim is to create advanced technology SMEs rooted in university research environments.

To achieve its objective, South Korea is entering into cooperative agreements with five other countries to learn from their experiences. Denmark is the only European country out of the five. The partner to the agreement is the Korean Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) – the authority for SME policy in South Korea with particular focus on innovative companies.

A Korean delegation is visiting Denmark on 1 and 2 September where Minister for Higher Education and Science Sofie Carsten Nielsen will sign a political agreement with Jung-Wha Han, the president of SMBA.

Sofie Carsten Nielsen highlights how both parties can greatly benefit from the agreement.

- Both in Denmark and South Korea, knowledge stemming from our research institutions should form the basis for new products and new SMEs. We are very interested in South Korea because they give very high priority to research and education. This new agreement is exciting as it gives us the opportunity to learn from each other and exchange experience of creating companies based in university environments. Furthermore, it is quite positive that the agreement has already led to concrete collaboration between institutions, says Sofie Carsten Nielsen.

The Korean delegation will also meet with the University of Copenhagen, which will intensify its collaboration with the top South Korean university, Yonsei. As an offshoot of the agreement between SMBA and the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, DTU’s science park – Scion DTU – will sign an agreement on a training programme for Korean entrepreneurs.

In recent years, South Korea has experienced extensive economic growth. From being one of the world’s poorest countries in the 1950s, South Korea now has a purchasing power parity per capita that is almost on the same level as that of Denmark.

The growth has largely been based in developing advanced technology products for global export. Meanwhile, they have also invested significant resources in research and education so the population of South Korea is now one of the most well-educated in the world.

The Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science is planning a visit to South Korea in January 2015 where she will lay the foundation for even more cooperation between the two countries and bring more inspired ideas back to Denmark. The minister will visit Innovation Centre Denmark in Seoul which work to promote cooperation between Danish and Korean research institutions and companies.

About South Korea

South Korea is the 26th most populated country in the world with a population of 50 million.

The Korean Government launched a growth market strategy in 2012, which includes ambitions to increase cooperation in the research area.

During the period 2005-2014, South Korea has had an average annual economic growth of 3.64 per cent – making it one of the fastest growing economies in the OECD.

Korean public and private investments in R&D in 2012 were equal to 4.36 per cent of GDP. Only Israel tops South Korea for R&D investments when measured as a percentage of GDP.

For further information please contact:

Ministry of Higher Education and Science:
Head of Division Gitte Agerhus, e-mail: gha@fi.dk, tel. +45 7231 8250

University of Copenhagen:
Special adviser Astrid Gufler, Rector’s Office, e-mail: asg@adm.ku.dk, tel. +45 3532 4784

Scion DTU:
CEO Steen Donner, e-mail: sd@sciondtu.dk, tel. +45 2088 3929

Innovation Centre Denmark in Seoul:
Attaché Torben Orla Nielsen, e-mail: torbni@um.dk, tel. +82 10 2824 4187