Ministry of Science and ICT: "No Transfer of Special Accounts for the Four Major Science and Technology Institutes"

"Conclusion after consultation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 13th"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government has made a final decision not to transfer the budgets of the four major science and technology institutes to the newly established Higher and Lifelong Education Support Special Account.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 13th, after consulting with the Ministry of Economy and Finance on this issue, the Ministry of Science and ICT concluded that it will no longer pursue the transfer.

The four major science and technology institutes refer to the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). Unlike general universities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, these institutes are governed by special laws, with the Ministry of Science and ICT responsible for their budgets and operations.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance intended to establish the Higher and Lifelong Education Support Special Account to provide additional support to the four major science and technology institutes by reallocating education grants, which are limited to elementary and secondary education amid declining student numbers. The four major science and technology institutes have been budgeting separately according to their respective special laws.

However, the four major science and technology institutes opposed the plan, arguing that sharing budgets with other universities could actually reduce their funding, and expressed concerns about confusion and the undermining of their founding purpose and independence, as the budget planning and execution authority would shift from the Ministry of Science and ICT to the Ministry of Education, and the parliamentary standing committee responsible for budget review and approval would change from the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee (Science Committee) to the Education Committee.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance issued a press release rebutting these concerns, stating that even if the special account is established, the Ministry of Science and ICT would still oversee budget planning and execution, the responsible parliamentary standing committee would remain the Science Committee, and the budget would increase rather than decrease. Nevertheless, opposition from the four major science and technology institutes persisted.

The Ministry of Science and ICT gathered these opinions and conveyed its opposition to the transfer to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Ultimately, the transfer was officially canceled. The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "Over the weekend, we collected opinions from the presidents of the four major science and technology institutes and held video conferences among working-level officials to confirm this opposition stance," adding, "We conveyed this to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and decided not to proceed with the transfer."

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