Korea’s Scientific Education Field Facing Crisis

It is being argued that South Korea needs to make resolute investments into both scientific technologies that could be the growth engine behind the nation’s economy in 20 years, and in the talent that will develop such technologies, even if the investment involves risks.

There is also a concern that, in an educational system that pushes students to solve mock tests at private institutions and that only focuses on raising average scores for college entrance exams at schools for gifted children, world-renowned scientific talents will not be produced.

In a special discussion titled, “How to foster Korean scientific geniuses in the global arena,” held at the Shilla Hotel on February 26, Seo Nam-pyo, president of KAIST, and Kim Shin-bae, president of SK Telecom, pointed out the above.

President Seo has been a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for about 40 years, and he was renowned as an international scholar while assuming the post of instrument engineering department head at MIT for 11 years. President Kim, who majored in industrial engineering, is one of the core executives of the Information Technology (IT) sector at SK Telecom, South Korea’s top telecommunications firm.

In the conference, President Seo of KAIST said, “Korea is barely making ends meet with industries, such as automobiles, steel, and electronics, the nation invested in 20 years ago. But what will lead the South Korean economy 20 years from now?” He continued, “We must invest without hesitation in new scientific technologies because patent issues no longer allow us to copy foreign technologies.”

President Kim of SK Telecom also stressed the importance of “talent-oriented” investments, saying, “China has brought the brightest minds from the United States. The country provides them with a bountiful research workforce and facilities. It has already been paying off.”

As for South Korea’s social trend in which students avoid engineering majors, the two replied, “Science and engineering departments are facing difficulties for now, but soon things will rebound because their futures will never be bleak.”

kunta@donga.com mikemoon@donga.com