Chae Suchan, KAIST Vice President, "Remote Medical Care Has Not Made Any Progress"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] "People say that remote medical care is being misunderstood and that medical privatization is being pursued. There are ideological confrontations where it is not necessary. And forces that share the same intentions are inciting this. (As a result) remote medical care has not advanced even a single step."

On the 26th, Chae Suchan, Vice President for External Affairs at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), diagnosed remote medical care, which he cited as one of the representative industries within the biohealth sector, saying, "Biohealth will occupy an even greater share of our country's economy," during a meeting held at the Korea Press Club in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.

The government has begun considering the promotion of non-face-to-face and remote medical consultations in response to the novel coronavirus infection. However, voices of opposition have emerged among doctors, and political debates continue. Vice President Chae explained, "Remote medical care must find institutional solutions such as legislation after resolving these political issues."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki visited Aprogen, a bio-industry venture company located in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, on the 16th, and examined a mouse's knee joint under a microscope. Aprogen, which researches and produces antibody drugs and biosimilars, is the 11th unicorn company in Korea and the first in the bio sector, with 371 employees and total assets of 374.2 billion won. Deputy Prime Minister Hong visited the site following the confirmation of the "Bio-industry Innovation Policy Directions and Key Tasks" and the "Biohealth Core Regulation Improvement Plan" at the Innovation Growth Strategy Meeting held the previous day.
Seongnam=Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On this day, Vice President Chae shared his views not only on remote medical care but also on the three major biohealth industry groups: medical services, medical devices, and new drug development.

Regarding new drug development, he diagnosed, "It takes 13 years and about 2 trillion won to develop a single new drug. Our country lacks both the capacity and the talent for this." He added, "We can consider pursuing new drug development through joint research with advanced countries, such as Europe," and stated, "KAIST is putting effort into this area."

Recently, KAIST obtained an opportunity to participate in the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a consortium for new drug and medical technology development of the European Union (EU). IMI is a research collaboration among EU member countries for new drug development. Although Korea is not a member country like Switzerland, it has gained the opportunity to participate jointly in research and development. He predicted, "There are various fields such as COVID-19 treatment development and new drug development related to super bacteria resistant to antibiotics, which could accelerate Korea's new drug development speed." However, participation in IMI requires government budget support amounting to hundreds of millions of won.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is experiencing AI-related medical devices at the 'Data-AI On-site Visit and Meeting' held at Saltlux in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 29th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Among the biohealth industries, he identified the medical device industry as the most promising sector for Korea. He explained, "Medical devices can compete globally. The government has neglected this sector like an abandoned child until now," and added, "Compared to new drugs, there is a possibility of producing results."

Vice President Chae served as a professor at Rice University in the United States for 20 years and was elected to the 17th National Assembly in 2004 with the highest number of votes nationwide. Since 2018, he has been a professor at KAIST and currently serves as Vice President for External Affairs and Director of the Biohealth Care Innovation and Policy Center.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.