Korean scientists working around the world have announced a declaration to make the “human resources..

Korean scientists working around the world have announced a declaration to make the “human resources cycle” a new progress axis for Korean science and expertise. Instead of seeing Korean scientists going overseas as a expertise drain, let’s use it as a possibility to broaden the horizons of Korean science and expertise.

The presidents of the 20 Overseas Korean Science and Technology Associations announced ‘Seoul Declaration 2.0’ at the General Assembly of the World Council of Korean Science and Technology held on the eighth. All of them from 22 international locations around the world, together with the United States, Canada, and Japan, visited Korea to attend the two-day World Korean Science and Technology Conference held from the seventh.

The declaration, issued three years after 2023, requires a change in perspective on the outflow of scientific and technological expertise. According to the Bank of Korea, Korea has the worst outflow of high-quality human assets to the United States amongst main international locations, and is a internet outflow nation with extra outflows than inflows. In explicit, the outflow of expertise is rising quickly, centering on strategic fields corresponding to bio and synthetic intelligence (AI).

While the authorities has give you measures to forestall the outflow of expertise to forestall this, abroad Korean students have voiced the want to view the outflow of expertise too negatively. This is as a result of the cross-border motion of expertise will not be a loss, however an asset of a “circulation” between information and networks.

They mentioned in the declaration, “We will strengthen science diplomacy and strengthen global cooperation with industry-academic relations by opening an era of talent circulation that freely crosses borders.” The concept is that if Korean scientists who went overseas produce analysis outcomes and create a cooperative community, Korean scientists will have a possibility to conduct joint analysis and lay the groundwork for enhancing their analysis competitiveness.

Seo Hye-won, a senior researcher in pc engineering at the University of Strasbourg in France, mentioned, “There are many countries that want international cooperation with Korea, but we don’t know which researchers will cooperate with, and even we don’t know our strengths. If Korean scientists at home and abroad form an ecosystem, Korea’s science and technology stage can be much wider.”

It is defined that Korean scientists overseas can act as personal diplomats who join home and international scientists. Researcher Seo mentioned, “From abroad, the characteristics of the Korean scientific community are more clearly revealed,” and added, “It is a cooperative partner no matter where you are in the scientific community, so you don’t have to see it as a competitive target.”

However, to ensure that the expertise cycle to be accomplished, Korea should ultimately lay the basis for the inflow of expertise. Sohn Byung-ho, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Planning and Evaluation (KISTEP), mentioned in a coverage dialogue held at the occasion, “For the global talent cycle, even some of the talented people who have experienced overseas should return later,” including, “We need to prepare conditions for overseas talent to study and settle in Korea.”

The diplomatic function of Korean scientists overseas also needs to be expanded. This is as a result of private-centered science and expertise diplomacy and the social function of researchers have grow to be extra necessary in the period of technological hegemony. Some say that the authorities ought to domesticate specialists in science and expertise diplomacy who perceive diplomacy and science and expertise collectively.

Kwon Oh-nam, chairman of the Korea Federation of Science and Technology Associations (Professor of Mathematics Education at Seoul National University), mentioned, “This 2026 World Conference of Korean Science and Technology was a meaningful place to present a new direction for global cooperation and talent circulation in the AI era. We will continue to support joint research, talent exchange, and international cooperation as a global platform.”