The Science and Technology Special Committee on R&D Budget 'Brokers' Abuse...Suspected Cartel of Preferential Treatment for Former Officials

Increased Management Functions Over R&D
Barriers Between Institutions... Duplicate Projects Occur
SoBuJang and Semiconductor Experts' Reviews Ignored

The People Power Party's Special Committee on Science and Technology pointed out on the 21st that R&D (Research and Development) budgets during the previous administration were used inefficiently due to 'cartels' composed of institutional silos and brokers.

Jeong Woo-sung, chairman of the Special Committee on Science and Technology, stated at a briefing at the National Assembly on the same day, "There were many silos not only between ministries but also among specialized institutions," adding, "Within ministries, there are multiple institutions, but silos exist there as well."

Chairman Jeong explained, "For example, in the case of disease-related R&D, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Cancer Center, and the National Rehabilitation Center each pursued R&D independently, but these institutions do not share information on projects or pools of experts at all," adding, "As a result, duplication is inevitable."

He also said, "Since 2012, government R&D has doubled, while research management specialized institutions have increased more than fourfold," and added, "However, only 20% of the personnel in research management institutions are in planning roles, so the management function has increased rather than R&D aimed at national competitiveness."

Jeong Woo-sung, a professor at POSTECH and chairman of the People Power Party's Science and Technology Special Committee (left), and Kim Young-sik, a member of the National Assembly and vice chairman, are holding a briefing at the National Assembly on August 21, 2023. 2023.8.21
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Chairman Jeong continued, "Furthermore, around these institutions, brokers disguised under the legal guise of 'consulting' are rampant," pointing out, "According to investigations, there are as many as 600 consulting firms. They are registered as planning and management businesses, but 77% of them are companies with fewer than 10 employees." He added, "There have been about 40 reports related to R&D brokers through preferential treatment of former officials and other means, but there have been no punishments at all," and said, "I think this is a cartel where ministries, institutions, and brokers coexist."

The Special Committee also evaluated that there were many problems with the rapidly increased budgets for materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) and semiconductor R&D during the previous administration. Chairman Jeong explained, "R&D budgets go through review by a deliberation committee composed of about 200 experts," adding, "However, SoBuJang R&D ignored these procedures and was poorly organized, and semiconductor workforce training was redundantly supported by the Ministry of Education (54 billion KRW), the Ministry of Science and ICT (16.4 billion KRW), and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (15 billion KRW), but there were no measures to prevent overlapping benefits." He added, "Investments were made within ministry-specific cartels, causing national inefficiency."

The Special Committee announced that it will work on system improvements to reform R&D silos and cartels. Kim Young-sik, a member of the People Power Party and vice chairman of the Special Committee, emphasized, "A control tower is needed to eliminate the walls between institutions and ministries," adding, "Investments must be made where they are truly necessary, but this is not happening. A system to reform these issues is needed."

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