Moon Administration's 4th Industrial Revolution Committee Abolished After 5 Years

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT Reveals at President Yoon's Work Report on the Afternoon of the 15th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government has decided to abolish the 4th Industrial Revolution Committee established during the Moon Jae-in administration and downgrade the National Intellectual Property Committee from being directly under the president to being under the Prime Minister's Office.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 15th, Minister Lee Jong-ho reported this work plan to President Yoon Suk-yeol in the afternoon. According to this, among the 29 committees related to the Ministry of Science and ICT, three are directly under the president, and the 4th Industrial Revolution Committee will be abolished. Previously, the Moon Jae-in administration established the 4th Industrial Revolution Committee as a presidential direct agency in 2017 to respond to the comprehensive changes brought by the arrival of the 4th Industrial Revolution, to deliberate on national strategies and policies, and to coordinate policies between ministries. Last year, the status and role of the committee were strengthened, with the Prime Minister serving as co-chairman.

Among the remaining presidential direct committees, the National Intellectual Property Committee will be transferred to the Prime Minister's Office, and only the National Space Committee will remain directly under the president. The Ministry of Science and ICT explained, "It is a symbol of realizing the space economy vision triggered by the successful launch of the Nuri rocket," and added, "Since the scope of space policy is expanding from R&D to security and industry, we recommended maintaining the current status to consolidate and coordinate cross-ministerial capabilities."

Additionally, among the 25 science and technology-related committees under the Prime Minister and ministries, 10 will be abolished, 2 will have their affiliations changed, and 13 will maintain their current status. The Nuclear Promotion Committee and the Information and Communication Strategy Committee, currently under the Prime Minister's Office, will be transferred to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Three purely advisory committees, such as the International Science and Technology Belt Council, will be simply abolished. Five committees established to secure expertise, such as for basic plan deliberations, and two committees with similar characteristics will be integrated into other committees like the National Science and Technology Advisory Council. For example, the National Ultra-High Performance Computing Committee and the National Nuclear Fusion Committee will be integrated into the National Science and Technology Advisory Council, and the Internet Address Policy Deliberation Council will be absorbed into the Information and Communication Strategy Committee. Thirteen committees, including the Post Office Insurance Dispute Mediation Committee, which have irreplaceable or quasi-judicial functions such as dispute mediation, will be maintained.

Oh Tae-seok, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, explained at a pre-briefing on the work report held at the Government Seoul Office the day before, "In response to criticisms that there are too many committees overall, we are reviewing based on criteria such as how often they actually meet, whether they are no longer needed due to changing circumstances, and whether they can be integrated, but nothing has been finalized yet."

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