[Initial Insight] President-elect Yoon Needs Scientific Leadership

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "Please become a government that places science and technology at the center of national governance."

This was the demand of scientific and technological organizations during the 20th presidential election. Narrowly, it meant to provide more support for science and technology research and development (R&D) and to appoint talented individuals, but broadly, it was an appeal for ‘scientist-like’ or ‘scientific’ leadership. Just as after the Sewol ferry disaster, all government ministries, local governments, and even private organizations and companies established safety-related agencies and departments, there was a call to innovate national governance with scientific leadership, just as administrative, management, and business practices were fundamentally reformed based on safety standards.

What is ‘scientific leadership’? Let’s recall Albert Einstein, the most famous scientist of the 20th century. Genius, eccentricity, an extremely high IQ, solitude, brilliant ideas, stubbornness come to mind. Many great scientists were similar. This was also a limitation of the ‘pioneers’ during the early days of science and technology, when research environments and infrastructure were not properly established.

The leadership of modern scientists can be roughly inferred by looking at their work process. They have a fierce problem awareness that challenges all existing theories, come up with hypotheses through brilliant ideas and creativity. They review all prior research and overseas theories. Then, they verify whether their hypotheses are true through objective and neutral experiments. Moreover, they publish papers after peer review. Scientists possess more knowledge than any other profession. Without the vast knowledge acquired through curiosity and effort, it is difficult to even formulate hypotheses. It can also be assumed that they are accustomed to rational decision-making processes. They repeatedly reach conclusions through experiments, communication processes such as active discussions, suggestions, and verification based on objective facts.

The ‘testimony’ of Kim Young-gi, Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago, supports this. He possesses outstanding scientific leadership, having been elected as the next president of the American Physical Society, which gathers the world’s top intellectuals, as the first Korean. He cited patience, perseverance, effort, and communication skills as the secrets to becoming a scientist. His research in physics using particle accelerators involves collaboration among up to 15,000 scientists. There are many geniuses with extraordinary talents from around the world. However, while their achievements are based on individual creativity, ideas, perseverance, effort, and patience, ultimately, they are the result of ‘communication.’ Various sciences have long passed the stage of grasping basic concepts and principles. Even if 100 Einsteins came together individually, it would be difficult to produce results alone. The difficulty has increased and matured to the extent that only through long-term cooperation by forming networks with the best equipment and personnel can achievements be made.

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where new science and technology change the world every day, such scientific leadership is essential. First, one must know a lot. Even if not at an expert level, one must have knowledge of rapidly advancing science and technology in various fields. Proper leadership is impossible with simple delegation that excludes values and philosophy. Decisions must be made based on reality, thorough preparation, research, verification, and communication, just as scientists write papers. Yoon Seok-yeol, the 20th president-elect, also stated at a policy discussion with scientific organizations last February, "I will place science and technology at the center of national governance." It was a welcome declaration amid successive controversies over superstition. However, recent actions have been disappointing. Suddenly pushing forward the relocation of the presidential office, which inevitably causes a large budget and confusion after lonely all-night work, is not scientific leadership. From which experiment does the conclusion ‘once you enter, you cannot change’ or ‘space dominates people’ come? It is hoped that President-elect Yoon will continue to reflect on and practice scientific leadership after his inauguration.

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