[Asia Exclusive] 'Construction Companies, Public Officials, Professors' Experience... "Discovering Promising Technologies is the Top Priority"

Interview with Han Seungheon, President of Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology

Expert with experience in construction companies, government ministries, academia, and research institutes
HR reform to allow new employees to pursue desired research
Improved 'Sanghu Habak' wage system after two months of persuasion
"The future direction of KICT is discovering promising future technologies"

Han Seungheon, President of the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, is giving an interview to Asia Economy at the institute's headquarters in Ilsan New Town, Gyeonggi-do on the 17th. (Photo by Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Han Seungheon, President of the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), is a leading domestic expert in the construction field who has worked across private construction companies, government ministries, academia, and research institutions. In his youth, he worked at a private construction company and participated in a bridge project in Saudi Arabia. In the 1990s, as a civil servant at the then Ministry of Construction and Transportation, he was involved in infrastructure planning for the first phase new towns in the Seoul metropolitan area, such as Bundang and Ilsan. Since 2001, he has been a professor at Yonsei University, focusing on research and mentoring students, and for the past three years, he has been leading a government-funded research institute.

President Han, who passed the technical civil service exam, explained his reason for moving from a government position to academia as "seeking new changes." He said, "As a construction expert, I had many doubts about whether following the predetermined path in the civil service was right. At first, I went as an assistant professor, and it was tough because the university did not recognize my previous career, but I have no regrets."

Since assuming the presidency of KICT, Han has emphasized 'innovation' the most. He completely revamped the personnel system to allow researchers to work in the departments they want and conduct the research they desire. He said, "In the past, when new employees joined, they were trained in an apprenticeship style, so many stayed in their first department until retirement. That made research rigid, so I created an open system where researchers gather when there is a project and disperse when there isn't."

Even now, KICT researchers submit a one-page report to the president after one year of employment, stating which department they want to work in and what research they want to conduct. Executives, including the president, evaluate these and help employees pursue the research they want as much as possible. Since Han's appointment, about 50 researchers have changed departments this way, accounting for 10% of the total 450 researchers.

He also reformed the pay system with a 'top-heavy' structure. Han explained, "New employees had the lowest pay among government-funded research institutes, while senior employees were in the upper ranks. After persuading the staff for two months, we finally obtained the consent of 75% of the employees."

Approaching his retirement next year, he expressed regret that the three-year term is somewhat insufficient to produce continuous research outcomes. In fact, although government-funded research institute heads have a reappointment system, actual reappointments are rare. As a result, even if new systems or research environments are established, they often cannot be sustained in the mid to long term. Han pointed out, "In other countries, some serve for more than 10 years. With only three years, it is difficult to continuously pursue long-term goals, so there is a tendency to focus on visible short-term research results."

Han emphasized that the future direction for KICT should be discovering promising future technologies for the construction industry in preparation for the post-COVID-19 era. Representative areas include smart construction, autonomous driving infrastructure, earthquake and urban flood countermeasures, air quality improvement, and fire safety. Regarding the Korean New Deal, he said, "We will strive to quickly apply KICT technologies to the field to maximize the implementation power of the Korean New Deal."

◆Han Seungheon, President of Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology - Career

▶ Born 1961, Jeju ▶ Bachelor’s degree, College of Engineering, Seoul National University ▶ Director, Ministry of Construction and Transportation ▶ Master’s degree, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University ▶ Master’s and Ph.D. in Construction Management Engineering, Colorado State University, USA ▶ Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University ▶ Regular Member, National Academy of Engineering of Korea ▶ Vice President, Korean Society of Civil Engineers ▶ 1st Committee Member, Infrastructure Management Committee ▶ Member, Smart City Special Committee, 4th Industrial Revolution Committee under the President

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