The National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) was created in 2014 through a merger between the Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science and Technology (KRCF) and the Korea Research Council for Industrial Science & Technology (IstK). The mission of NST is to support the country’s research policy by systematically fostering and managing 25 government-funded research institutes in science and technology.
The NST operates under the supervision of the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT. It supports the affiliated research institutes by planning and providing directions for research, making functional adjustments and reorganizations including incorporations, mergers, and dissolutions, evaluating achievements and management, providing assistance in collaborative research, providing assistance to improve research outcomes and proposing policies to government that enhance innovativeness and competitiveness in science and technology.
The 25 affiliated institutes are:
- Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI)
- Korea Institute of Science & Technologie (KIST)
- Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI)
- Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM)
- Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute (KASI)
- Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Bioetechnology (KRIBB)
- Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM)
- Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS)
- Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH)
- Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT)
- Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI)
- National Security Research Institute (NSRI)
- Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)
- Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI)
- Green Technology Center Korea (GTCK)
- Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI)
- World Institute of Kimchi (WIKIM)
- Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM)
- Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS)
- Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)
- Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE)
- Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI).
- Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI)
- Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT)
- Korea Institute of Toxicology (KITOX)