With six days left until the 21st presidential election, a discussion forum on science pledges was held on the afternoon of the 28th at the Korea Science and Technology Center in Gangnam, Seoul. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate's campaign committee chair for science and technology innovation, along with Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party candidate's campaign committee vice-chair and head of the G3 Leap AI Science Headquarters, Choi Hyung-doo, and Lee Jun-seok, the Reform Party candidate's co-campaign chair, Jo Yong-min, participated as discussants.
The discussion forum was jointly hosted by the Korea Science Journalists Association and the National Union, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the field of science and technology. Campaign committee officials attended instead of the presidential candidates from each party, allowing for a comparison of pledges related to artificial intelligence (AI) and science.
◇All three parties pledge "more than 5% R&D investment in national finances"
Officials from major parties participating in the forum all pledged investments in the research and development (R&D) sector. Lee Jae-myung's camp member, Representative Hwang Jeong-a, noted that "the most important thing for successful R&D is stable budgeting," adding that "to enable scientists to conduct research, it is essential to secure predictable budgets."
Choi Hyung-doo of the People Power Party began by apologizing for the significant cuts to R&D budgets during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. He said, "There was a mistake in drastically reducing the R&D budget," and added, "The failure was due to managing R&D budgets only in terms of total amounts. We will expand R&D budgets to over 5% of the government's total expenditure and ensure urgent investments are made quickly without managing the overall amount."
Lee Jun-seok, the Reform Party presidential candidate, promised to increase the R&D budget to over 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Co-campaign chair Jo Yong-min stated, "In the U.S., about 15% of total R&D investment goes to basic science, while we are only at 9.8%. If we expand the R&D budget, we aim to focus on investments in basic science."
Proposals to improve research environments and increase the welfare of researchers were also raised. Democratic Party member Hwang introduced Lee Jae-myung's pledge to increase the participation of field researchers in establishing, planning, and evaluating R&D policies and to develop regional national universities into research-oriented institutions.
Choi, a member of the People Power Party, stated that they would expand the standard salary scale for research and development positions to consider the level of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the U.S. and restore the retirement age for researchers at government-funded research institutes to 65 years. He also announced plans to revamp the PBS (Project-Based Operation System) to the level of abolishing it, which currently relies on outsourcing to fund researchers' personnel expenses.
Reform Party co-campaign chair Jo announced plans to introduce a scientific and technological hero system. The core of the proposal involves granting a one-time reward of up to 500 million won and a monthly pension of up to 5 million won to recipients of major scientific awards, including the Nobel Prize, Turing Award, and Fields Medal, as well as domestic science and technology medal recipients. He mentioned that a support system will also be established to help talented individuals return from overseas.
◇'AI powerhouse' is acceptable, but implementation methods vary
The camps of Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo both pledged to leap to become one of the top three AI countries and invest 100 trillion won. Both candidate camps aim to nurture the AI sector as a next-generation growth engine.
Representative Hwang Jeong-a from the Democratic Party stated, "The government will play a pivotal role in opening an era of 100 trillion won investment in AI and will establish a dedicated regulatory reform body to eliminate unnecessary regulations," adding, "The president will directly oversee AI policies by appointing a national chief AI officer in the presidential office." She also revealed plans to secure more than 50,000 graphics processing units (GPUs).
Choi Hyung-doo of the People Power Party stated, "We will establish a new vice prime minister position to oversee AI, science, technology, and information communications," and noted, "Kim Moon-soo, during his time as Gyeonggi Province governor, laid the infrastructure that enabled science and technology to flourish by designing Samsung's Pyeongtaek semiconductor compound and the Pangyo new city."
Co-campaign chair Jo emphasized that "concrete methodologies are needed beyond declarative pledges like becoming an AI powerhouse," stating that "talent and infrastructure, along with improvements in investment and systems, must work together for Korea to become a leading AI country." He added, "Currently, half of the 3,000 GPUs at the national AI center are underutilized," and said that a practical solution is required, such as attracting data centers from Google or Amazon to Korea instead of merely stating plans to secure several thousand more GPUs.
Discussions on restructuring governance (policy implementation systems) were also held. Representative Choi Hyung-doo noted that "Because AI and science and technology budgets are dispersed across various ministries, they do not function properly due to inter-ministerial self-interest," adding that "we will introduce the vice minister system for science and technology."
Jo Yong-min, co-campaign chair of the Reform Party, stated, "In both the U.S. and China, various educational initiatives are being implemented using GPUs in university education," asserting that "the chemical combination of education and science has become a necessity at this crucial moment." Lee Jun-seok is proposing a strategic vice minister system and the establishment of a Ministry of Education and Science.
The National Union, which co-hosted the forum, praised the commitment of the major parties' candidates to advancing science and technology but pointed out the lack of specificity in pledges and the connection between policies. A representative from the National Union remarked, "For the policies proposed by each candidate to have a significant impact, it is necessary to supplement specific and feasible plans, including detailed implementation plans, phased roadmaps, and funding strategies."