South Korea is a country.
This is a list of countries by research and development ( R&D ) spending in real terms and as per latest data available . South Korea , officially the Republic of Korea ( ROK ; ) , is a sovereign state in East Asia , constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula . It is the world 's largest spender on R&D per GDP , leading the OECD in graduates in science and engineering and ranking third in the Youth Wellbeing Index .