Abstract
The medical and healthy paradigm is changing by various reasons such as improving of life quality, the limit of western medicine, demographic changes and so on. And the demand, interest and market size of traditional medicine(TM) and complementary and alternative medicine(CAM) are increasing continuously and there is a good traditional medicine called TKM(Traditional Korean Medicine) in Korea. TKM have differentiated characteristics like nature-friendly, systematic, preventive and personalized medicine from western medicine. TKM with these characteristics have possibility to increase national competitiveness and contribute to growth of economy. At this time, it is necessary to select key area of TKM R&D to increase competitiveness of TKM and to create new growth engine. In this paper, we suggest key area of TKM R&D through SWOT analysis, the analysis of world traditional medicine and expert's counsel. As a result, 3 key area and 10 specific fields of TKM R&D was selected, which they are 'the standardization for TKM technology and technique', 'the development of generic technology based on TKM' and 'the establishment of infrastructure for TKM information and material'. This study may contribute to make plan for TKM research and policy such as TKM middle and long term plan and TKM promotion plan.