Education of scientific geniuses urgent: President Kim

President Kim Dae-Jung called Saturday for early education programs for gifted science students at elementary and middle schools.

In a meeting with representative of the Ministry of Science and Technology at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, the president stressed the need to find and foster "superior talents" among elementary and middle school students.

Kim said that bolstering the nation`s level of science and technology would serve the interests of both South and North Korea and instructed the ministry to promote tangible cooperative steps between the two starting in sectors where they can benefit one other, presidential spokesman Park Joon-Young said.

Noting that the fair distribution of profits from research was one of the reasons for the success of Silicon Valley in the United States, Kim stressed that the nation should take a lesson from this. There should be no distinction between those who do research and those work on the business end, he stressed.

Kim added that the budget for research and development is derived from tax revenues from the people, so it should not be wasted.