Is the Nobel Prize '0' Due to Promotion?…Government Considers Establishing 'Science Diplomacy Support Center'

Minister Lim Hye-sook of MSIT and Leading Domestic Scholars Agree at Meeting on 29th
Discuss Hosting Prestigious Academic Journals in Korea to Raise Awareness

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Although the Nobel Prize winners were announced earlier this month, there were no Korean recipients again this year. Amid this, Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT and prominent domestic scholars unanimously agreed that active promotion is necessary for South Korea to receive international recognition such as Nobel Prizes in the field of science and technology. However, there is also criticism that it is inappropriate to focus only on superficial appearances when the achievements in basic science itself are still insufficient, so controversy is expected.

On the morning of the 29th, Minister Lim met with outstanding scientific researchers considered as Korea’s Nobel science award candidates, including Professors Hyun Taek-hwan and Kim Bit-nae-ri of Seoul National University, Professors Park Nam-gyu and Lee Young-hee of Sungkyunkwan University, and Han Min-gu, President of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, at the RNA laboratory of the Institute for Basic Science at Seoul National University for a "Dialogue with Science and Technology Scholars."

Minister Lim said, "Since the enactment of the Basic Research Promotion Act, through the establishment of the Institute for Basic Science and the expansion of the basic research budget, South Korea’s science and technology have developed significantly in both quantity and quality," adding, "Now, not only creating an environment for basic research but also actively promoting excellent basic science research achievements internationally through international joint research and researcher exchanges is necessary so that outstanding researchers’ results can receive proper evaluation on the global stage."

The attendees also agreed on the need to raise awareness and suggested various methods. Professor Kim Bit-nae-ri proposed, "To efficiently increase the recognition of basic research achievements, it is necessary to attract editorial offices of prestigious academic journals such as Nature and Cell to Korea." Professor Lee Young-hee pointed out, "It is necessary to review the ongoing international science and technology exchange projects by institutions and set consistent goals and directions."

Professor Park Nam-gyu also suggested, "It is necessary to expand invitations for presentations by domestic scientists at internationally renowned societies such as the American Chemical Society (ACS) to create opportunities to share excellent research achievements," and Professor Hyun Taek-hwan said, "Along with continuous support for the research environment through the Institute for Basic Science, it is necessary to select important international academic events among many and provide focused support to domestic scientists."

President Han Min-gu stated, "One of the main purposes of our Academy is to widely publicize the achievements of domestic scientists who stand out globally," and added, "We will do our best to raise the status of South Korea’s science and technology on the international stage."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to regularly collect opinions from scholars in various scientific and technological fields starting with this event. Through this, they will systematically promote various international exchange events in the private sector. To this end, they are considering establishing a "(tentative name) Science Diplomacy Support Center" and preparing support measures.

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