South Korea has become the first non-European partner member of the Eureka, a 33-year-old intergovernmental organization dedicated to sponsoring industrial R&D projects, giving Korean labs, universities, and companies greater access to hundreds of research missions across Europe.

Korea joined the world’s longest-running and largest R&D network across 45 countries in 2009 as an associate member. The Eureka general meeting in October voted to elevate Korea’s status to a partner country and made the membership official on Tuesday, according to the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday.

A member state has voting rights in Eureka’s key policy decisions and does not need to renew its membership every three years.

Korea so far has invested nearly 88 billion won ($81.6 million) in a total of 111 R&D projects over the past decade and has held technological exchange event ‘Korea Eureka Day’ every year since 2010. A total of 227 Korean companies, colleges, and research centers have worked with 670 European partners on developing new technologies, said the trade ministry.

The Korean government said it would double its support for the Eureka to 50 billion won by 2025 from 27 billion won last year.

By Ko Jae-man and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]