Yoon Transition Committee Has No ICT Experts

Looking into the confirmed list of 21 members of the Science and Technology Education Division
Park Sung-joong, who serves as secretary,
has experience as a secretary in the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee
and is a former bureaucrat with over 20 years of service.
There is no expert to lead metaverse, NFT, and telecommunications broadcasting policy,
raising growing concerns about the recurrence of ICT neglect, such as the dismantling of the Ministry of Information and Communication during the MB government.

[Asia Economy Reporters Lim Hye-seon and Cha Min-young] As Yoon Seok-yeol, the president-elect, has completed the formation of the Presidential Transition Committee, the number of information and communication technology (ICT) experts is ‘zero,’ solidifying concerns about the neglect of ICT. There are no ICT specialists among the transition committee members, expert advisors, or government officials dispatched from ministries. With a large influx of personnel from the MB (Lee Myung-bak) administration into the transition committee, worries are rising that the ICT neglect seen during the dismantling of the Ministry of Information and Communication at the start of the MB government in 2008 might be repeating itself.

Emphasis on ‘Science’ but No ‘ICT’

On the 22nd, a review of the 21 members of the Science, Technology, and Education Subcommittee?comprising 3 transition committee members, 9 expert advisors, and 9 working-level officials?who are responsible for ICT policy revealed that there is not a single expert to lead areas such as the metaverse (extended virtual world), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or next-generation communication and broadcasting policies. Kim Chang-kyung, a transition committee member and professor at Hanyang University’s Creative Convergence Education Institute, graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Metallurgical Engineering and earned a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from MIT’s School of Engineering. After working as a researcher at MIT, he has been a professor at Hanyang University since 1997. During the Lee Myung-bak administration, Professor Kim served as the Presidential Secretary for Science and Technology and as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. He was deeply involved in the digital platform government establishment strategy, assisting Yoon during this presidential election.

Nam Ki-tae, a member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, developed the world’s first electrochemical carbon dioxide conversion technology mimicking natural biological fuel synthesis systems. He succeeded in synthesizing a new concept of ‘carbon-neutral fuel’ carbonate for fuel from carbon dioxide. He is an expert in the carbon neutrality field.

Among the few with relevant experience, Park Sung-joong, a member of the People Power Party and secretary of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, serves as the secretary of the Science, Technology, and Education Subcommittee. However, he is a former bureaucrat who passed the civil service exam and worked for over 20 years at the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The expert advisors include Sung Dong-gyu, professor of Media Communication at Chung-Ang University; Choi Soo-young, Director of Management Planning at the Viewer Media Foundation; Cho Cheol-hee, Policy Director of the People Power Party; Lee Chang-yoon, Director of Basic and Fundamental Research Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT; Son Myung-sun, Planning and Coordination Officer at the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission; and Park Cheol-wan, professor in the Department of Automotive Engineering at Seojeong University. None of them have any ICT-related experience. Even officials from the 2nd Vice Minister’s office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, who are responsible for the ICT sector, are absent.

‘Digital New Deal’ Going Backwards

Some interpret the absence of officials from the 2nd Vice Minister’s office of the Ministry of Science and ICT in the Science, Technology, and Education Subcommittee as a move toward realizing a new Ministry of Science and Technology and Education (tentative name). In the past, the MB government dismantled the Ministry of Information and Communication and established the Korea Communications Commission. ICT policies previously handled by the Ministry of Information and Communication were dispersed to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Ministry of Education and Science, and Ministry of Public Administration and Security. Although this was an effort to emphasize the ‘convergence era,’ it is considered one of the MB government’s representative failures. Eventually, with the inauguration of the Park Geun-hye government, the Ministry of Future Creation and Science was established by combining science and ICT, which later evolved into the Ministry of Science and ICT under the Moon Jae-in administration.

Therefore, at this critical juncture when a strong control tower is needed to leap forward as a digital powerhouse, there are criticisms that the transition committee is repeating the failed MB policy. Ahn Jung-sang, senior expert advisor of the Democratic Party, said, “Yoon’s proposal of a digital platform government through his economic pledges is an important goal comparable to former President Kim Dae-jung’s push for an e-government strategy. In this era of the digital economy, where advanced ICT must be integrated across all industries to create convergent and complex industries, the absence of experts to draft ICT policies raises doubts that the pledge to become a ‘digital economic hegemon’ might end up as empty rhetoric.”

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