Kwon Oh-nam, president of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST). Courtesy of KOFST
As the National Assembly has not too long ago begun discussing a constitutional modification, the science and know-how group can also be transferring shortly. Kwon Oh-nam, president of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST), submitted a proper advice to the National Assembly on April 3, a couple of month after he took workplace in March. His proposal is to revise Article 127 of the present Constitution, which for greater than 54 years has confined science and know-how to a mere “means of national economic development,” and as a substitute anchor it in “quality of life for the people.”
Speaking on the KOFST workplace within the Seoul Science and Technology Center, Kwon stated, “If science and technology are clearly stated in the Constitution as values in their own right, it becomes a national declaration that researchers will no longer be treated solely as tools for economic growth.” He added, “It also means creating a constitutional basis to curb the current system in which R&D investment swings with one-year budget cycles and changes in the administration, and to secure continuous and predictable public investment in science and technology.”
The phrase “science” first appeared within the Constitution within the Fifth Amendment in 1962. Since the Seventh Amendment in 1972, science and know-how has persistently been outlined as a “means of national economic development.” Article 127, Paragraph 1 of the present Constitution states, “The State shall endeavor to develop the national economy by promoting the development of science and technology and the innovation of information and manpower.”
Based on knowledgeable discussions inside its Science and Technology Policy Committee and enter from its management, KOFST proposed including a brand new clause to Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution: “The State shall endeavor to innovate science and technology in order to prepare for future society.” It additionally proposed revising the present Article 127, Paragraph 1 to learn, “The State shall endeavor to promote science and technology innovation and the cultivation of human resources and to improve the quality of life of the people.”
Kwon harassed, “In an era of technological hegemony where artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology, and quantum technology determine national security and people’s lives, science and technology can no longer remain a secondary tool for economic growth. It must now be re-established as an independent core value that safeguards public safety and the lives of future generations.”
While acknowledging that it’s troublesome to say with certainty that the views of the science and know-how group can be absolutely mirrored within the constitutional revision course of, he stated, “We will do our utmost to faithfully gather the voices from the field and ensure they are reflected in policy.”
Kwon redefined KOFST’s raison d’être as “a public platform that transforms the collective intelligence of scientists and engineers into national strategies and policies.” He stated, “We should not remain just an organization that executes government projects, but become a resonant focal point that explains the concerns of the science and technology community and its responses to future challenges to society, and presents viable options.”
Immediately after taking workplace, he collected opinions from 604 member societies by means of a survey performed by the Academic Promotion Committee’s steering committee, and on that foundation submitted 5 key agenda objects to the Ministry of Science and ICT. One of them is a program to draw younger science and know-how expertise. He proposed methods to attach graduate college students to the broader science and know-how group from an early stage.
They additionally established a suggestions mechanism to report again to the societies on how their proposals had been reviewed. Communication roundtables with educational societies in 5 fields—pure sciences, engineering, agriculture and fisheries, well being, and basic (convergence)—are being held in sequence. In the previous, KOFST primarily held boards and issued stories; now, every educational society is inspired to draft its personal coverage proposal paperwork.
From June by means of subsequent April, KOFST will host a month-to-month coverage discussion board. Marking the sixtieth anniversary subsequent 12 months of the institution of the devoted ministry for science and know-how, these boards will evaluation six a long time of achievements and focus on future coverage instructions.
Asked whether or not KOFST can nonetheless converse laborious truths when authorities subsidies account for half of its income, Kwon responded firmly, “Cooperation is not the same as silence.” He stated, “KOFST’s role is not to be an adversary, but to serve as a policy partner that offers the government better scenarios to choose from.” He additionally acknowledged that, to strengthen monetary independence, KOFST will steadily scale back its reliance on the federal government by increasing income from leases, venue operations, and extra superior in-house initiatives.
Last 12 months, allegations of misconduct, together with the misuse of enterprise bills, led the earlier president to resign mid-term, serving as a critical warning to the complete science and know-how group. Kwon sees this not as a person’s lapse, however as a structural drawback. KOFST is now strengthening the position of its board of administrators, introducing work audits, and constructing an inner management framework. “In mathematics, if the solution process is wrong, the answer is meaningless even if it happens to be correct,” he stated. “For KOFST as well, not only the outcomes but the processes must be transparent and reproducible.”
The management staff has additionally been overhauled. Women now account for 25%, these of their 40s and 50s for 40%, and regional leaders for 52% of executives. Citing the McKinsey report “Diversity Matters Even More (2023),” which analyzed 1,265 firms in 23 nations, Kwon defined, “Companies in the top 25% for executive-team diversity are 39% more likely to outperform financially than those with lower diversity.” In different phrases, variety improves the standard of organizational decision-making.
Kwon stated, “Renewing the people is not about simply swapping personnel; it is about changing the standards and culture of decision-making. We have created a system that allows us to track how the field experience and sense of issues brought in by newly participating executives are actually reflected in formal meetings and in setting key agendas, and what kind of discussions each suggestion leads to.”
The following is a Q&A with (*54*) Kwon.
Q. You have lengthy emphasised the necessity for ‘patient capital’—funding in fundamental science that doesn’t demand short-term outcomes however waits for long-term progress. What should change in order that researchers on the bottom really feel actual change moderately than empty guarantees?
“Above all, to prevent patient capital from becoming a form of false hope for researchers, we must guarantee predictability in research. Challenging and basic research should run on long-term tracks of five, seven years or more, and interim evaluations must move beyond metrics focused on the number of papers and patents to incorporate qualitative indicators such as progress in problem definition and learning through failure. Only when researchers can truly believe, ‘I will be able to continue this research next year as well,’ can they dare to take real risks.”
Q. What position ought to KOFST play in addressing the push into medical college and the outflow of expertise abroad?
“The rush into medical colleges and the mind drain abroad finally share the identical root trigger: an absence of predictability in regards to the future of scientists and engineers and inadequate social belief in science and know-how careers. Through our 604 member organizations, we’ll establish, with information, the the reason why expertise is leaving the sector, and we’ll join Korea with 20 abroad Korean scientists and engineers associations around the globe to broaden a borderless analysis surroundings. By making our methods extra versatile, there are methods to make the most of expertise overseas even with out requiring them to bodily return to Korea.“
Q. As the federal government pushes ‘AI for Science’ to the forefront, many researchers fear that “it is hard to get projects funded without an AI keyword.” How do you view this example?
“The coverage course itself is important and vital. However, if nervousness grows within the subject that ‘without an AI keyword, it is hard to get a project approved,’ that’s one thing we should clearly guard towards. While know-how quickly solutions the query of ‘how,’ fundamental science is the self-discipline that asks ‘why.’ Deep studying, the core of AI, solely grew to become attainable because of the lengthy accumulation of fundamental disciplines resembling linear algebra, calculus, likelihood and statistics, and optimization concept. The pace of know-how can by no means substitute for the depth of science.
AI is a instrument, not an finish in itself. Even if analysis isn’t straight linked to AI, we should steadfastly shield fundamental analysis that builds the foundations of disciplines. What science should safeguard isn’t the flexibility to quickly replicate right solutions, however the potential to pose higher questions on paths the place nobody has gone earlier than. When that essence is preserved, Korean science and know-how can transfer past merely chasing current applied sciences and grow to be a rustic that leads with questions so elementary that the remaining of the world follows.”
Q. In an period overflowing with faux information, how does KOFST, as a consultant physique of the science and know-how group, plan to speak with the general public?
“According to the ‘2026 Edelman Trust Barometer,’ the proportion of individuals who imagine faux information reveals nearly no distinction by stage of schooling. This is essentially the most putting discovering. It reveals that faux information isn’t merely an issue of missing information, however an issue of having misplaced the factors for what to belief in an age of info overload.
KOFST will strengthen its position as a mediator of belief by leveraging the knowledgeable networks of its 604 member organizations to supply speedy and dependable explanations on science points that grow to be issues of public controversy. To this finish, in cooperation with the Science & Technology Media Center Korea (SMCK), we plan to construct a roster of consultants who can reply instantly when points come up. We goal to create a system through which consultants can promptly step ahead on socially contentious subjects resembling vaccines, the surroundings, and AI.”
Q. When your three-year time period ends, by what requirements will you choose your presidency a hit?
“I will use three criteria to evaluate myself: whether policy participation by our 604 member organizations has become meaningfully more active than before; whether opinions from the field have in fact been connected to policy discussions in the government and National Assembly; and whether opportunities for participation by young scientists and regional communities have visibly expanded. Above all, if small and mid-sized societies, regional researchers, and young scientists and engineers can genuinely feel that ‘my voice is reaching the policy conversation through KOFST,’ I would regard that as the clearest sign of success.”
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