Domestic investment in research and development is far less than those of advanced nations.

The Science and Technology Ministry on Monday said the share of R&D spending in gross domestic product was 2.6 percent in 2003, just one-18th of that of the United States and one-eighth of Japan's.

The ministry blamed the lack of R&D investment for the slow domestic development of core technologies.

Despite the global success of several domestic scientists such as Hwang Woo-suk, the nation spends under ten billion won a year on stem cell research, while the University of Minnesota alone spends that much a year for research.