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News & Event

News & Event

News & Event

Advancing Korea’s Science & Technology Innovation Ecosystem: Highlights from the National Forum

  • Writer KISTEP
  • Date2025-04-22
  • Hit394

A comprehensive forum highlighted the Yoon Administration’s achievements in science and technology innovation and outlined future directions for advancing Korea’s National Innovation System (NIS) on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul.

 

Hosted by the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology and supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), the event convened stakeholders to share five key initiatives and strategic directions aimed at advancing Korea’s innovation ecosystem and to discuss the next steps for reforming the R&D framework.

 

Opening remarks of Byung-seon Jeong, President of KISTEP

Byung-seon Jeong, President of KISTEP

 

In his opening remarks, Byungseon Jeong, President of the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), noted that “Science and technology are central to every policy agenda, spanning foreign affairs, defense, economic growth, and social welfare.” He added, “At this critical juncture for innovation, I hope today’s discussions will further refine and advance the government’s science and technology agenda.”

 

Yang-hee Choi, Vice Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology

Yang-hee Choi, Vice Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology

 

Dr. Yanghee Choi, Vice Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology, emphasized that “Science and technology form the very foundation of our nation,” highlighting the importance of creating an atmosphere that encourages participation and collaboration from all stakeholders. He noted, “This forum provided an opportunity to reflect on whether scientists and researchers had been overly focused on their individual research interests, to reassess the significance and priorities of research, and to comprehensively redesign the entire R&D process through open communication.” He underscored, “It is essential that we transition from our current catchup R&D model to a leadershiporiented innovation system. Our council will actively lead various initiatives like this forum to continuously gather feedback and strengthen communication and collaboration with researchers in the field.”

 

Sang-wook Park, Senior Secretary to the President for Science and Technology, delivered a presentation titled “The Yoon Suk Yeol Administration’s Strategy for Upgrading Korea’s National Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem,” in which he proposed establishing a leadershiporiented national science and technology innovation system as the nation’s future direction.

 

He highlighted key policy achievements of the Office of the Senior Secretary for Science and Technology over the past 300 days, including:

Establishing presidential initiatives on three game-changing technologies (AI-semiconductors, advanced biotechnology, and quantum technologies)

Building collaborative governance frameworks such as the National AI Committee and the National Biotechnology Committee

Reforming the R&D support system

Establishing global R&D collaboration frameworks

Providing research stipends to graduate students in science and engineering

 

He then identified weaknesses in Korea’s science and technology innovation ecosystem and proposed five major tasks to address and improve them, enabling a transition toward a leading innovation model:

Upgrading the public research sector by breaking down barriers between universities and government-funded research institutes

Transforming basic research by providing tailored, stage-specific support systems focused on leadership-oriented and challenge-driven research

Enhancing global technological cooperation to strengthen strategic capabilities and international influence

Fostering technology commercialization markets that incorporate market-driven mechanisms for R&D outcomes

Advancing R&D management practices through autonomous research administration services and regulatory innovation in service delivery

The forum continued with presentations and panel discussions on the five tasks proposed by Senior Secretary Park.

 

During Session 1, Dr. Joon-yeon Chang, Vice President of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), presented strategies to reform public research institutions. Emphasizing the need to maximize the capabilities of universities and government-funded research institutesthe two pillars of public R&Dhe highlighted the importance of creating an open collaborative ecosystem for government-funded research institutes and restructuring university support systems. He stressed the importance of removing barriers between universities and research institutes and emphasized that close collaboration is essential to a robust national R&D ecosystem. As concrete steps, he proposed:

Cultivating and utilizing talent to position Korea as a global leader in science and technology

Sharing core research resources to generate cutting-edge achievements

Fostering world-class, network-based national research institutes

Developing R&D clusters to consolidate regional innovation capacity

Enhancing public R&D support systems to underpin open innovation

A follow-up discussion was moderated by Dr. Young-kuk Lee, President of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT).

 

Presentations on the priority initiatives were delivered by industry, academic, and research experts in Sessions 25.

Session 2: Juwon Lee (Sungkyunkwan University) outlined strategies to revitalize basic research

Session 3: Seokho Son, Director of Strategic Technology Planning at KISTEP, discussed strengthening global open alliances in science and technology

Session 4: Soojung Son (Senior Research Fellow, Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI)) addressed technology commercialization and the dissemination of research outcomes

Session 5: Yoohan Jeong (Dankook University) presented plans to advance R&D management

Topic discussions were chaired, respectively, by Professors Joonho Lee and Youngchang Joo (Seoul National University), Samyul Lee (Yonsei University), and Taeseog Oh (Sogang University).


Session-wise Presentations and Panel Discussions

Session-wise Presentations and Panel Discussions


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