Minister Lee Jong-ho: "President Yoon wants proper research"

Met with reporters on the 10th
"No to scattershot or share-and-eat style budgets"

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT explained on the 10th that President Yoon Seok-yeol's criticism of the national research and development (R&D) budget and subsequent measures are "a process for conducting proper R&D."

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT is attending the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 21st, delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Minister Lee made these remarks during a meeting with reporters at the Sejong City government office that morning. President Yoon had emphasized the need for rationalization, including the readjustment of standards, regarding the national R&D project budget on the 28th of last month. President Yoon stated, "R&D conducted in a piecemeal or divided manner needs to be reconsidered from a zero base," and added, "International cooperation in R&D should be significantly expanded to world-class joint research." Subsequently, Oh Tae-seok, the first vice minister who had been effectively overseeing the administrative affairs of the Ministry of Science and ICT, was abruptly dismissed while on an overseas business trip. Jo Seong-gyeong, a close aide of President Yoon who had been coordinating science and technology policy, was appointed as his successor.

Regarding this, Minister Lee said, "We are taking a strict look at those parts of R&D that reduce efficiency, making sure those areas can become efficient, and organizing what needs to be organized," adding, "You can see this as a process for conducting proper R&D." When asked whether there are plans to strengthen support focused on international scientific cooperation and capable researchers, as emphasized by President Yoon, he replied, "President Yoon places great emphasis on fair competition," and added, "Naturally, this will proceed in a way where those who perform well will benefit." He continued, "There are places abroad that are very good," and explained, "We will promote activities such as focused collaborative research with those places, creating connections, sending students, and conducting joint research."

When asked by when the readjustment plan for the national R&D budget would be submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, he said it would be submitted by the end of August. Minister Lee stated, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance will submit the entire budget to the National Assembly around the end of August," and added, "We will closely coordinate with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to ensure there are no issues and submit it as soon as possible." He further said, "I think this is a good opportunity," and added, "We will review whether there are any inefficient areas. If there is any spreading around or piecemeal distribution, I don't think anyone would agree with that. Those parts definitely need to be organized."

When asked whether there is a plan to uniformly cut the budgets of 25 government-funded research institutes related to science and technology, he dismissed the question by saying, "What do you mean? Who is saying that?" and "That is something I don't know well yet."

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