Ko Min-jeong “R&D budget cut, government treats developed country Korea as an underdeveloped country”

Regarding the reduction of the research and development (R&D) budget in next year’s budget, National Assembly member Go Min-jeong (Gwangjin-eul), the highest member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, “The Yoon Seok-yeol government is treating Korea, which is already ranked among the developed countries, as an underdeveloped country.”

Rep. Go Min-jeong said this in a presentation at the “R&D Budget Cut, Policy Response Debate” held at the Minjoo Hall of the Gyeongnam Provincial Party of the Democratic Party of Korea on the afternoon of the 21st.

Rep. Ko said, “President Yoon Seok-yeol said on June 28, ‘There is a need to reexamine research and development in a split-and-split manner from zero base,’ and the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the 2024 budget at a deliberation meeting on August 22. “The budget was drastically reduced through the resolution of the budget allocation and adjustment plan for national research and development projects,” he said.

The total research and development budget was 31.1 trillion won in 2023, but is planned to be 25.9 trillion won in 2024, resulting in a reduction of 5.2 trillion won.

Rep. Ko said, “It is an indiscriminate budget cut and there is a high possibility that the scientific community will shrink in various fields. I am concerned about the increase in uncertainty among new researchers and the increase in their avoidance of basic science.”

Rep. Ko said that the overseas scientific community also expressed concerns about Korea’s budget cuts. He said, “In a report titled ‘Korea, science budget champion, proposes budget cuts’ last September, Science pointed out that many researchers are in shock and that it is serious that the government is not even trying to consult with researchers. “he mentioned.

Rep. Ko also said, “Nature magazine reported on October 5th, ‘Korean scientists’ protest against plan to cut R&D budget,’ saying that Korea’s research and development, which was protected even during the IMF, is now in shock, and not long ago, “An editor who visited Korea said he had been jealous and envious of Korea’s well-supported research and development, and was shocked to see this budget cut.” He said, “This shows how much our country’s national prestige is being damaged.”

Rep. Go said, “It is known that the World Economic Forum in 2008 evaluated that the economic growth paradigm has changed from growth driven by quantitative expansion in the past to innovation-led,” and added, “Our country is already in the ranks of advanced countries, but the Yoon Seok-yeol government treats our country as an underdeveloped country.” “He said.

At the same time, he pointed out, “While voices of concern are growing in the field of science and technology due to the sudden sharp cut in the national research and development budget for next year, procedural issues are also being raised as the deadline for deliberation of the research and development budget set by law has passed.”

Regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol’s remarks, Rep. Go said, “The true nature of the ‘sharing and splitting’ cartel revealed by the Yoon Seok-yeol government has not been revealed. On October 11, during the National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Minister Lee Jong-ho said, ‘President Yoon is a cartel.’ He criticized, “He only repeated the phrase ‘I never said anything’ and failed to clearly reveal the true nature of the cartel,” adding, “He hurt researchers in Korea, a leading country in science, with his groundless remarks.”

Rep. Goh said, “Seok-Yeol Yoon’s budget policy creates a structure in which the weak are further isolated as the weak,” and added, “As informatization and digitalization accelerate, the weak who cannot reach technology will inevitably become more isolated. The government must embrace it as a policy.” “However, the government drafted a plan that ignored the vulnerable by drastically cutting the budget to reduce the digital gap, such as public Wi-Fi, digital learning centers, and kiosks.”

He then emphasized, “We will continue research and development for an inclusive society through the budget review during the upcoming National Assembly,” and “We will do our best at the National Assembly level to protect the budget that is essential for the underprivileged and for the Republic of Korea.”

The debate on this day was chaired by Heo Seong-moo, chairman of the Changwon-Seongsan Regional Committee of the Democratic Party. Cho Young-sik, a senior researcher at the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Kim Chang-jong, a doctoral student at Changwon National University, and Changwon National University industry-academia cooperation professor Sang-hwan Yoon participated in the discussion.

Lee Chang-jae, vice chairman of the National Public Research Union, said in his presentation, “We demand that the Democratic Party do its best to help the National Assembly step forward and restore the research and development budget that was violently cut by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.”

Vice Chairman Lee said, “The number of researchers from science and technology-funded research institutes has already been steadily increasing due to lower treatment compared to private and academic researchers in similar fields, and there have been loud voices calling for improved treatment.” He added, “Due to budget cuts, researcher morale has further deteriorated and the rate of departure has accelerated.” “It will happen,” he said.

He also said, “Even if it is assumed that it is possible to eliminate the labor costs of training personnel as the government claims, the financial resources that should be spent on reinvesting in research and development are consumed by each institution, resulting in a further deepening of the research budget shortage and a decline in research activities.” pointed out.