To improve the international competitiveness of research and academic libraries in Korea, it is essential to review the total amount of domestic information resources in comparison with those of other advanced countries, and then to make their best use. In this study, an attempt is made to estimate the annual budget for collecting foreign knowledge information resources spent by academic and research libraries in Korea. This budget estimate could be used for a basis for setting up the appropriate collection size and the efficient channel for distributing and sharing information resources among academic and research libraries on the governmental level. The total budget for collecting foreign knowledge information resources, including foreign monographs and scholarly journals in print, and the budget for foreign electronic journals, and web databases were estimated for academic libraries and research libraries, respectively, while the budget for international document delivery services was estimated without distinction between the types of libraries.