Only a pine tree that has weathered more than 60 harsh winters on a barren ridge can become a ridgepole, bearing the full weight of a house with its entire body. The process of "heartwood formation," in which a tree hardens its own core, requires that much time. The growth rings layered one upon another are records of time enduring wind and cold, and ultimately become the strength that holds up a house.
The foundation of Korean invention has likewise undergone such a process of "heartwood formation" — quietly but firmly — over the past 60 years. Etched into those 60 growth rings is the entire history of our industry built upon invention. Small inventions that sprouted from the ruins of war became the roots of export industries, extending their branches into semiconductors, automobiles, shipbuilding, and displays as they pioneered global markets.
Our challenges are also proven in numbers. Korea has entered markets with a single patent, competed with a single brand, and leapt into the ranks of the world's top 10 economic powers. In particular, last year Korea surpassed 260,000 annual patent applications for the first time in history, firmly securing its position as the world's fourth-largest patent power. As one research finding indicates, "a 1% increase in patents leads to approximately a 0.65% rise in per capita GDP." Korea stands as a living witness that has most clearly proven invention and patents to be the core driving force of national economic growth.
Today, we live in an era in the midst of a technological hegemony competition centered on artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors, where a single invention and patent can change the order of an industry and determine national competitiveness. This is why Invention Day (May 19), marking its 61st anniversary this year, must serve as an important turning point. As we mark the year of hwangap — when the 60-year cycle of the sexagenary calendar comes full circle and returns to the position of "gap" — we must achieve a "qualitative leap" to a higher level in the field of intellectual property based on the quantitative accumulation thus far. We need to build a virtuous cycle of innovation in which inventions receive fair compensation and creative ideas lead to entrepreneurship and jobs. Through swift and accurate examination, we must protect technologies and brands in a timely manner and safeguard inventors and companies from technology theft and patent infringement. In addition, we must build an even more tightly integrated system in which financing, technology transfer, and commercialization support are organically linked, so that inventions translate into substantive value within industries and markets.
When building a house, the ridgepole is the material chosen most carefully until the very end. This is because of the heavy mission of bearing the entire weight of the house. When the Korean Intellectual Property Office was elevated to the Korea Intellectual Property Administration in October last year, it became the ridgepole that oversees and coordinates Korea's intellectual property policy. Its responsibilities have grown all the heavier. Now, invention will go beyond being merely one field of policy and serve as a solid starting point — a pillar for realizing Korea's "genuine growth."
If the past 60 growth rings have made today's Korea strong, the rings to be inscribed from the 61st onward will determine our future. As this year's Invention Day slogan — "A Nation Where Everyone Is an Inventor, a Korea Where Dreams Come True" — suggests, invention is not the exclusive domain of large corporations or research institutes, but can begin from anyone's idea seeking to solve a small inconvenience in daily life. The single idea or invention we conceive today will become a sturdy support upon which the next generation can lean. Adding accumulated experience to the passion of our beginnings, we now seek to start a new 60 years toward becoming the world's foremost intellectual property power.
