The government has decided to abolish the "term continuation" rule that allowed the head of a Government-funded research institute in science and technology to remain in office after the term expired until a successor was appointed. As a result, some Government-funded research institute will be run under an acting system led by the vice president during vacancies, raising concerns about a leadership void.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) on the 15th, NST at a special board meeting on the 13th deleted the rule that kept a Government-funded research institute chief in office until a successor was appointed when the term expired and revised each institution's articles of association so that the next in the line of succession would serve as acting chief.
The term continuation system for institute heads was introduced in 2021 to prevent work disruptions after vacancies recurred due to delays in appointing successors. NST had previously allowed heads to remain until successors were selected, then in 2017 changed the rule to require immediate departure upon term expiration; the system reintroduced later has now been abolished again with this revision.
With the bylaw revision, starting with Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), whose term ends on the 26th, and Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), whose term expires on May 10, institutions are expected to shift to an acting system led by the vice president.
However, the change will not be applied retroactively. Accordingly, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), and Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), where the heads' terms have already ended, will have the current chiefs remain in office until successors are selected.
The Ministry of Science and ICT cited delays in appointing chiefs as the reason for the change. It said the measure is intended to fix situations where the outgoing chief's term is effectively extended for a long period when the successor's selection is delayed.
Still, concerns are being raised in the field at Government-funded research institute about possible vacancies at the top. Although the pace of recent head appointments has improved somewhat, cases where a successor is decided before the term expires remain rare.
In fact, at Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), a call for applications for a successor was issued before the term expired, the first time in about six years that a Government-funded research institute posted a recruitment notice before the term ended since Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) in 2020.
Although the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Act on Government-funded science and technology institutes requiring a recruitment notice three months before a chief's term expires, it conflicts with a rule that requires receiving the institution's evaluation results first, making actual implementation difficult.