Public Hearing on the Science and Technology Talent Development Plan Held

Minister Choi Ki-young of the Ministry of Science and ICT is attending the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on COVID-19 response held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 23rd. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] A forum was held to gather opinions on the basic plan for nurturing science and technology talent. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 18th that it will hold a public hearing at the Korea Science and Technology Center on the 4th Basic Plan for Nurturing and Supporting Science and Technology Talent (2021?2025), which includes the basic policy direction for science and technology talent over the next five years.

The Basic Plan for Nurturing and Supporting Science and Technology Talent is the highest-level plan in the field of science and technology manpower, established every five years at the government-wide level based on Article 4 of the "Special Act on Support for Science and Engineering to Strengthen National Science and Technology Competitiveness." Since May, the Ministry of Science and ICT has been operating a planning committee composed of private experts to prepare this plan.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Science and ICT limited the number of attendees at the public hearing to fewer than 50 people on-site and instead broadcast the event live online through the Ministry’s YouTube channel.

Yong Hong-taek, Director of the Research and Development Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "With rapid industrial and technological changes increasing future uncertainties and a declining population expected, securing excellent science and technology talent is becoming even more important. During the process of establishing this basic plan, we made efforts to listen to the voices of industry, academia, research sectors, and the public through various channels and to reflect them in the policy direction, implementation strategies, and tasks for science and technology talent policy."

The government plans to report the contents discussed at the public hearing to the Future Talent Special Committee within the year and finalize the plan at the National Science and Technology Advisory Council’s deliberation meeting.

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