Research and development (R&D) is very important to acquire new knowledge in various fields. The significance of public R&D is also increasing, especially related to health policy making, establishing basic databases, and enhancing basic and clinical science. The total budget of general public R&D in Korea was approximately ten billon US Dollars in 2008, but the proportion of health care research was just below 10%. In private sectors, it was three times the amount allocated to the public budget. In this article, recent trends in public R&D in Korea, especially related to health care policy and biotechnology are summarized. A brief overview of the application process for a specific policy fund is also described for early-stage researchers in these fields.