Korean Innovation Model: Toward a New Horizon

한국의 기술혁신모형: 새로운 지평을 향하여

Prior research in R8ED innovation in Korea has been centered around the 'three-stage development model,' which hypothesizes that the Korean innovation process goes from the introduction (of foreign technology) stage, through assimilation stage to the final modification stage. As Korean economy shifts from traditional industry-led development to innovation-centric development, such an approach loses sight of the whole picture. The current study argues that a new framework is required for adequate analysis on newly arising innovative patterns in Korea, emphasizing source technology development and technology leader strategy. For this purpose, we propose the 'Jigsaw Puzzle Model' of technology development, which is then verified by an in-depth analysis on the innovation processes of 3 representative IT products of Korea, DRAM, TH LCD, and CDMA. The model suggests that Korean innovation model is a dynamic, efficient amalgamation of foreign-acquired and dependent technologies, based on internally accumulated technological resources. The model explains better how Korean firms are achieving a rapid catch-up of technological gaps with advanced nations and are able to transfer from the technology follower to the leader position.