A legal foundation has been established to ensure that researchers face no conflict-of-interest burden even when they launch a startup based on their own research achievements or hold equity in a company to which they have transferred technology. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that the amendments to five related laws have cleared a Cabinet meeting and will take effect in March 2027.
 [코리안투데이] A view of the Ministry of Science and ICT building © 장형임 기자 |
The Ministry of Science and ICT (led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae Kyung-hoon) announced on September 10 that the promulgation bills for the partial amendments to the Act on the Establishment, Operation and Fostering of Government-Funded Science and Technology Research Institutes (the Government-Funded Science Institutes Act) and to the four individual Science University Acts were approved at a Cabinet meeting on September 8. The bills passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on August 20, and the amended laws will take effect in March 2027, six months after promulgation.
The core of this amendment lies in resolving the conflict-of-interest problem that has long weighed on the research field. Until now, researchers at government-funded institutes had to shoulder the burden of conflict-of-interest concerns when pursuing commercialization such as startups or technology transfers, and this has been cited as a factor that dampened the flow of government research and development (R&D) achievements into the market, including by reducing startup activity at these institutes.
The amended law stipulates that even when a researcher at a government-funded science institute launches a startup using technology held by their institution, or holds equity in a company to which technology has been transferred, that company shall not be regarded as a private interested party under the Act on the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest. Accordingly, researchers will be freed from constraints such as conflict-of-interest reporting while holding equity in a company that embodies their own achievements.
In addition, a new legal basis has been established allowing employees of government-funded science institutes and the four science universities to engage in job-related external activities, such as providing advice or consulting to, or taking up a position at, a company that uses their institution’s technology. This was reflected in both the Government-Funded Science Institutes Act and the four Science University Acts.
To encourage the diffusion of achievements by government-funded science institutes, which are key players in R&D, the government included the special provision for preventing conflicts of interest as a national policy task (28-3. Establishing a System for Diffusing Government R&D Achievements and Strengthening Support for Deep-Tech Laboratory Startups), and the legislation was realized through bills proposed by Representatives Cho In-cheol and Hwang Jung-a of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to gather field opinions so that the purpose of the amendment leads to actual startups and technology transfers, and to revise and provide guidance on the Guidelines for Startups by Government-Funded Institute Researchers before the law takes effect.
First Vice Minister Koo Hyuk-chae stated, ‘This legal amendment has established an institutional foundation on which researchers can actively take on the challenge of deep-tech startups based on their own research achievements.’ He added, ‘We expect it to play an important role in enabling research achievements in cutting-edge fields, such as the seven SEED areas, to advance from the laboratory into the market and grow into future growth engines.’
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