Minjoo Urges R&D Budget 'Restoration'..."Cut 50 Trillion, Talk of 100 Trillion"

"President Yoon Cuts Funding and Makes Unrealistic 100 Trillion Promise"
Democratic Research Institute, "18,000 Science and Technology Jobs Disappear"

The Democratic Party of Korea intensified its offensive on the 3rd against the government's cuts to next year's research and development (R&D) budget. They harshly criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol's previous day's statement on 'supporting R&D budget of 100 trillion won' as "mocking the science and technology community." They also released a report analyzing next year's R&D budget item by item, warning that 18,000 science and technology jobs could disappear.

Yoon Young-duk, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, said in a written briefing in the afternoon, "President Yoon visited the Daedeok Innopolis and stated, 'We will fully support research regardless of the cost,'" adding, "Is he mocking researchers by calling the science and technology cartel and treating research personnel as potential criminals while making unprecedented cuts to the R&D budget?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon reportedly said at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science in Daejeon during a 'Dialogue with Global Outstanding Young Researchers' event that regarding the R&D budget, "If the system is fixed, I will support not just restoring the budget but doubling, tripling it, even up to 100 trillion won."

In response, spokesperson Yoon criticized, "Without presenting clear criteria, they recklessly cut more than 5 trillion won from the R&D budget and now say they can spend 100 trillion won in the future, which is laughable."

He added, "They cut off funding for projects that researchers worked day and night on, and now try to win favor with an unrealistic 100 trillion won promise. Did they leave their conscience at the presidential office? With morale already lowered due to budget cuts and researchers leaving the field, is it appropriate to talk about 100 trillion won? Are they planning to fix the barn after losing the cow?"

He emphasized, "Wordplay won't work. If they truly want to properly support the science and technology community, they must immediately restore next year's R&D budget to its original level."

The party's think tank, the Democratic Research Institute, also expressed concern in a policy report released that day that the reduction in the R&D budget could lead to the loss of 18,000 science and technology jobs.

Nam Guk-hyun, a research fellow at the Democratic Research Institute, stated in the afternoon report, "When research and development expenses decrease by 100 million won, employment decreases by about 0.3 persons. A 6 trillion won cut in the R&D budget will reduce science and technology personnel by 18,000," criticizing that "this causes outflow of personnel and employment instability in the science and technology field."

He also pointed out that the budget cuts halt personnel training projects and could reduce jobs for master's and doctoral graduates. According to Nam's analysis, 47 research institutions in the science and technology sector, except for one, all had their research operating budgets cut. He diagnosed, "A total of 542.5 billion won in budget cuts raises concerns about the decline in morale among science and technology personnel."

Another issue is that despite being long-term research projects, the government indiscriminately cut the R&D budget, making it impossible to secure 'research continuity.' Specifically, these include ▲Development of Strategic Core Material Independence Technology with 184.6 billion won ▲Multipurpose Practical Satellite Development with 37.5 billion won (ending in 2025) ▲Autonomous Driving Technology Development Innovation Project with 46.9 billion won ▲Hologram Core Technology Development with 23.1 billion won (ending in 2027) ▲Carbon Neutral Industry Core Technology Development with 41 billion won (ending in 2028) ▲Eco-friendly Ship Full-cycle Core Technology Development with 18.1 billion won (ending in 2031). These are large-scale national projects, but their entire budgets for next year have been cut.

Regarding the R&D budget included in the special account for strengthening competitiveness in materials, parts, and equipment, which decreased from 2.2923 trillion won to 2.2085 trillion won, a reduction of 206.6 billion won, it was noted that "the technological competitiveness of small and medium enterprises could weaken." On the significant cuts to R&D budgets that had received 'excellent' evaluations, it was criticized that "this renders the national R&D project evaluation system meaningless and confirms that the government's R&D budget cuts were made without principles." Research fellow Nam suggested to the government and ruling party, "They should withdraw the R&D budget cuts and prepare plans to increase the budget."

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