The world's largest research and development institute will open an office in Seoul.

Battelle Memorial Institute on Monday said it will manage Battelle Korea's projects, including the formation of a joint research center with Korea University, and provide management consulting to research institutions in the country.

In June last year, Battelle announced that it will set up a research hub in South Korea focused on energy, new materials and defense.

Based in the U.S. state of Ohio, the think tank employs about 20,000 researchers and has a research budget of 3.4 billion dollars.