Acceleration of Appointments for Heads of Research Institutes Following the Establishment of the Chief of Science and Technology Office

Since the start of the Park Sang-wook presidential office's chief of science and technology system, the appointment procedures for directors of major government-funded research institutes in the science and technology sector have been accelerating.

Professor Park Sang-wook of Seoul National University, who was appointed as the newly established Senior Secretary for Science and Technology at the Presidential Office, is expressing his thoughts on the 25th of last month at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul.
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According to the National Science and Technology Council (NST; Chairman Kim Bok-cheol) on the 13th, director candidates for three government-funded research institutes?Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Korea Institute of Materials Science, and Korea Institute of Fusion Energy?have been recommended to the board and are awaiting final selection. NST held director candidate review committees consecutively on the 5th and 6th following the KIST committee on the 1st, confirming candidates for the Materials Science Institute and Fusion Energy Institute. Typically, three candidates are recommended for each director position.

The KIST director candidates are Park Jong-gu, Oh Sang-rok, and Choi Won-guk, senior researchers. The candidates for the Materials Science Institute director are Lee Sang-kwan, Lee Young-sun, and Choi Cheol-jin, senior researchers. The candidates for the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy director are Oh Young-guk, Yoon Si-woo, senior researchers, and Hong Bong-geun, professor of Quantum Systems Engineering at Jeonbuk National University. NST plans to hold a board meeting next month to appoint the new directors.

The vacancy of the KIST director, the parent organization of domestic science and technology government-funded research institutes, is a cause for concern. Yoon Seok-jin, the KIST director who received an "excellent" rating in the institution evaluation, ended his term on July 20 last year but failed to be reappointed. NST only began the recruitment process for a successor on July 25, after Yoon’s term ended, but ultimately decided to re-advertise. This is the third attempt to find a director. Yoon has not been able to retire for six months after his term ended.

Lee Jung-hwan, director of the Materials Science Institute, also received an "excellent" rating but failed reappointment. His term ended in November last year. Although a reappointment proposal was submitted afterward, it was rejected, and a new director is expected to take over this time. The Fusion Energy Institute is undergoing its first procedure to appoint a successor director.

Since last year, the terms of directors appointed at the end of the Moon Jae-in administration have been ending one after another. However, the appointment of successor directors has not been swift. The directors of the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials succeeded after three and two attempts respectively at the end of last year. Other government-funded research institute director appointments are also pending in succession.

A representative example is the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. Both institutes will be transferred from NST to the newly established Space and Aviation Administration. The terms of Lee Sang-ryul, director of the Aerospace Research Institute, and Park Young-deuk, director of the Astronomy Institute, end in March and April respectively, before the launch of the Space and Aviation Administration. Failure to appoint directors promptly could lead to prolonged confusion.

According to regulations, outgoing directors of government-funded research institutes can continue their duties until new directors are appointed, but if the lame-duck period is prolonged, operational disruptions are inevitable. A government-funded research institute official welcomed the situation, saying, "Now that Chief Park Sang-wook has started his duties, the atmosphere is that director appointments are also being actively pursued."

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