Keeping Pace with Globalisation Innovation Capability in Korea's Telecommunications Equipment Industry

Korea is one of the four from the developing world to have built up substantial innovation capability in the design and manufacture of state-of-the-art telecommunications equipments. The paper undertakes a detailed review of this innovation capability and analyses its precise status during the time when the Korean economy was subject to a serious financial crisis. The paper maps out the sectoral system for innovation in the telecommunications equipment industry. The ensuing analysis shows that the country has built up substantial innovation capability in not just fixed telephony but also in mobile communication technologies. However these traditional instruments of support are no longer valid in newer technologies such as mobile telephony. The innovation system has nevertheless achieved considerable sophistication, such that it is in a position to keep pace with changes in the technology frontier. [CDS Working Paper 370, March 2005]