KISTEP was designated as ‘The Center for S&T Diplomacy Strategy’ by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) on January 5, 2023.

KISTEP held the ceremony to lay the groundwork for systematically accelerating the national S&T diplomacy strategy and international cooperation, attended by Tae Seog Oh, 1st Vice Minister of MSIT and Ji-Ho Hwang, Director General of the Office of Future Technology Strategy.

△ Commemorative photo

MSIT launched a new program in 2019 as part of the 「S&T Diplomacy Strategy for Innovation for Inclusive growth」, with KISTEP serving as the program execution organization. In addition, on August 2020, MSIT announced the 「Post-COVID-19 S&T Policy Direction to Prepare for a New Future」 and designated KISTEP as the Center for S&T Diplomacy Strategy to strengthen KISTEP’s Think-Tank function.

“Amid intensifying competition for technological hegemony, the designation of the ‘Center for S&T Diplomacy Strategy’ is very timely and has great significance in that it is the beginning of promoting S&T diplomacy at the national level,” said President Byung-Seon Jeong. “As the role of S&T diplomacy becomes more important as a key measure for the future, the government should promote more strategic and systematic S&T diplomacy,” he added.

△ President Byung-Seon Jeong of KISTEP and the Center for S&T Diplomacy Strategy

The Center for S&T Diplomacy Strategy at KISTEP will carry out S&T diplomacy and international cooperation activities at the national level in collaboration with the MSIT in a systematic and strategic manner. In particular, the center plans to establish and operate S&T/ICT diplomacy and international cooperation governance, establish mid- to long-term plans, analyze major pending issues, and identify agendas for international cooperation. Furthermore, the Center for S&T Diplomacy Strategy will contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of national S&T diplomacy by launching a comprehensive information system to provide data/statistics related to S&T diplomacy, operating a training program to strengthen domestic S&T diplomacy capabilities, and planning ‘S&T Diplomacy Forum’ to facilitate mutual exchanges between the S&T and diplomatic communities.

Jinha Kim, the Director of Center for S&T Diplomacy Strategy stated, “We will strive to strengthen national competitiveness and global leadership through S&T, ICT diplomacy and international cooperation through the center’s activities.”