Korea is in the middle of a transition from the catch-up stage to the post catch-up stage. This requires a new approach, a new perspective, and a new strategy to survive in the new environment. This research investigates the post catch-up research activities in the public sector, including universities and national research institutes. In this case study, the experts and research teams at the highest level in the world are introduced, and research environments and know-how possessed by the experts and research teams are analyzed. The cases shows that the post catch-up research teams have research patterns to open new research field and integrate prior knowledge base with new knowledges from other research field. They succeed in producing highly regarded research results and making research platform for further advanced research.