[Yoon Seok-yeol Elected] 'Minister of Science and Technology' Position Lost, 'Aerospace Agency' to Be Established?

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] On the 10th, with Yoon Seok-yeol of the People Power Party confirmed as the president-elect, attention is focused on the science and technology policies of the next government.

In this regard, during his candidacy, on the 8th of last month, Yoon attended a policy forum hosted by 30 organizations including the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies at the Science and Technology Center in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, where he revealed his policy pledges and plans for national governance. At that time, Yoon announced that to strengthen the government's leadership in science and technology policy, he would establish a Presidential Science and Technology Committee directly under the president to formulate strategies and roadmaps. He also promised to appoint as many science and technology experts as possible to senior government positions so that science would be central in important national decision-making. He pledged thorough separation of politics and science, establishment of an autonomous research environment, activation of international joint research, attraction of multinational corporations' research and development (R&D) centers, introduction of a future-oriented research management system, and strengthening support such as expanding research funding and training opportunities for young scientists.

Yoon emphasized, "We must achieve scientific and technological innovation by leveraging the strengths of being the world's 10th largest economy. In the new inter-country competitive system, only science and technology powerhouses possessing science and fundamental technologies can leap to the forefront," adding, "Through bold innovation, we will become a science and technology powerhouse. Together with the scientific community, we will firmly lay the foundation to become one of the world's top five leading countries in science and technology." He also criticized the Moon Jae-in administration for hastily pursuing nuclear phase-out with political motives, causing energy supply instability and making it difficult to maintain the world's best nuclear power ecosystem, attempting to differentiate his stance by accusing the previous government of dragging politics into the realm of science and technology.

Yoon also announced in January that he would establish an 'Aerospace Agency' responsible for technology development and projects in the aerospace sector, with its location in the western region of Gyeongnam Province. Instead, he mentioned relocating the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, currently located in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, to Daejeon. This has sparked opposition in Daejeon, arguing that establishing the Aerospace Agency in the western Gyeongnam region, where manufacturing companies like Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) are concentrated rather than aerospace research and development centers like the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), makes no sense. It is also reported that fierce competition is ongoing among Gyeongnam areas such as Sacheon and Jinju to attract the agency.

Regarding nuclear power, Yoon pledged to normalize the domestic nuclear power industry by resuming construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4. However, he has clearly stated that renewable energy sources such as solar power have "limitations," drawing attention to the potential impact on related research and development.

Yoon has not provided an answer regarding the long-standing demand in the science and technology community for the establishment of a Deputy Prime Minister for Science and Technology, making the realization of this unlikely. However, his camp is reportedly considering establishing a deputy prime minister-level digital convergence ministry, which is attracting attention.

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