The government has launched a national science and technology council, which will oversee the nation’s science and technology policies.

The council on Monday held its inaugural meeting and decided to invest 92-point-four trillion won in research and development projects over the next five years and create 640-thousand jobs.

To that end, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning plans to increase investment in basic research projects to 40 percent by 2017 from the current 35 percent, while the Agriculture Ministry decided to expand the portion of research and development in its budget spending to ten percent by 2022.

The Rural Development Administration plans to pour two-point-four trillion won by 2017, while the Welfare Ministry set a goal of improving the nation’s medical technologies to 75 percent of the world's highest levels.

The council is headed by the prime minister and comprised of 13 Cabinet ministers and ten experts.