Minister Lee Jong-ho: "Regret Not Communicating with Scientists on R&D Budget Reform"

Year-End Press Conference on the 18th
"Quantum Leap Opportunity in Science and Technology"
"This Year is the Year of Artificial Intelligence"

Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT, said at a year-end press briefing on the 18th, "It is regrettable that communication with scientists in the research field was insufficient in the structural reform of the R&D budget."

At the year-end meeting held at an undisclosed location in Sejong City, Minister Lee stated, "Jack Welch, former CEO of GE in the United States, once said, 'Management is communication, communication, and more communication.' The importance of communication is not limited to management."

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT is answering questions from reporters at a year-end press briefing held at a restaurant near the Government Sejong Complex on the morning of the 18th.

He also likened the engineering term 'gongjin' (resonance) to the R&D ecosystem. Resonance is a phenomenon where an object with a natural frequency vibrates more intensely when it encounters an external force with the same frequency. It is also Minister Lee's favorite word as an engineer.

He emphasized, "Now is the time when our country's R&D ecosystem can leap to the world's top through resonance," adding, "With the technological alliances with leading countries firmly established, this is the opportunity for our nation's science and technology capabilities to make a quantum jump."

Minister Lee promised, "For R&D not to fall behind in the global infinite competition and to present the future of the nation, we must overcome growing pains and step out of the well. We will support researchers to immerse themselves in challenging and innovative research in a broader world and achieve world-class results."

The government’s R&D budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly for next year is 25.9 trillion won, a 16.6% reduction compared to this year. The government judged that the proliferation of small-scale R&D projects with divided funding lowered efficiency, and plans to restructure inefficient R&D while focusing the budget on challenging and performance-oriented R&D.

Additionally, Minister Lee named this year "the Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI)." He introduced, "To make South Korea the best country in the world at AI, we collaborated with various experts to announce the 'Super-large AI Competitiveness Enhancement Plan' and the 'Nationwide AI Normalization Strategy,' among others."

He continued, "We are also creating and spreading a Digital Rights Charter to ensure that everyone can fairly enjoy the benefits of digital technologies like AI," and evaluated, "South Korea’s rise to 6th place in the world in digital competitiveness this year is the fruit of each person’s sweat and passion coming together."

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