The Ministry of Science and ICT has announced that it will prioritize mission-centric reform over the consolidation of government-funded research institutes under the National Science and Technology Council (NST).
During a press briefing on May 29 at the Seoul Central Post Office, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Kyung-hoon stated, "Rather than first discussing the reorganization of research institutes, we need to set mission-centric tasks first. Once a mission-centric system centered around the K-Moonshot Project is established, discussions on organizational restructuring can follow, but for now, setting mission-centric tasks is the priority."
In response to concerns that there are more support staff than researchers at these institutes, First Vice Minister Koo Hyuk-chae noted that it is difficult to make uniform judgments across institutions. He explained, "Each institution has different circumstances, and we need to approach them according to their specific characteristics." According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the current support for research personnel at NST-affiliated institutions is about 17% of the actual work support standard.
The ministry also plans to continue improving the treatment of researchers at government-funded institutes. Deputy Prime Minister Baek remarked, "The disparity in treatment between private companies and research institutes is always a concern, and we are discussing how to improve it." Vice Minister Koo added, "It is necessary to continuously improve the treatment of experienced researchers, and we are considering expanding the budget for science and engineering research institutes in the next fiscal budget process."
On the same day, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced plans to reform the evaluation system to support challenging research and development (R&D). Vice Minister Koo stated, "The R&D environment is changing rapidly, and the existing evaluation methods have limitations. We are reviewing a transition to a diagnostic and excellence evaluation system centered around experts." He further mentioned, "We aim to present evaluation directions as early as this year or by early next year."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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