“It is difficult to select competent foreign teachers, and it is also challenging for them to conduct proper research in Korea. One of the significant reasons for this is the National Research Foundation of Korea. I urge changes to the National Research Foundation of Korea.”
Kim Hyun-chul, a professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, sparked significant attention with a post he made on his social media on the 26th. This post received a 'like' from Lee Ju-ho, the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, indicating agreement.
The National Research Foundation of Korea is the largest professional research management institution in the country, with an annual budget reaching 10 trillion won. It receives funding from the Ministry of Science and ICT, which oversees government research and development, and the Ministry of Education, which manages the university education system. Professor Kim criticized that while the number of foreign researchers in Korea is increasing and international joint research is on the rise, the research management system of the foundation is not keeping pace with any changes.
In a post on social media, he stated, “When you enter the National Research Foundation of Korea website, all you find are Korean notices that are very confusing even for someone like me, whose native language is Korean,” adding, “There is an English homepage, but it is essentially non-functional, and the last English notice was in July 2023.” In fact, the last notice on the English homepage of the National Research Foundation of Korea was on July 19, 2023, announcing a joint research program between Korea and China.
Professor Kim remarked, “The notices of the National Research Foundation of Korea are published in Hangul, making it impossible for foreign researchers to read, and I cannot understand why, when they are encouraged to engage in international joint research and collaboration with foreign researchers, they are required to submit research funding applications in Korean.”
He stated, “To apply for research funding from the foundation, one must first verify their identity and confirm each paper’s publication date via a very inconvenient website known as the Integrative Research Information System (IRIS), which foreign professors have to navigate just like Korean professors when attempting to collaborate on joint projects,” adding, “It seems almost impossible for foreign teachers to independently apply for research funds from the National Research Foundation of Korea.”
Professor Kim pointed out these issues and proposed that the notices from the National Research Foundation of Korea be posted in both Korean and English, and that, except for certain fields like Korean literature, funding applications should also be accepted in English. He suggested allowing more foreign scholars to participate in project evaluations. He specifically recommended using Word instead of Hangul, a program uniquely used in Korea. Many researchers who share similar concerns left comments supporting Professor Kim’s observations.
In a phone interview with ChosunBiz, Professor Kim explained that his personal experiences became the impetus for raising these issues. While he is a professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, he has also served as a professor in the Department of Policy Studies at Cornell University in the U.S. and in the Department of Economics and Public Policy at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. This means he has experienced academia in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Korea.
He recalled the story of Professor Pham Thi Tuyet Trinh, who was appointed as a professor at the Korea Development Institute (KDI) Graduate School of International Policy last year. Professor Trinh studied at KDI and received her PhD from Cornell University. Professor Kim had formed a friendship with Professor Trinh while she was a doctoral student at Cornell University.
Professor Kim mentioned, “I thought it would be good if Professor Trinh applied for the research funding aimed at collaboration between Korean and Vietnamese scholars, which was created after I came to Korea,” adding, “However, when I looked for the application, everything was exclusively in Korean with no English available.” He noted, “This means that foreign researchers who do not use Korean will inevitably pass by without even knowing about such opportunities.”
David Schoenhair, a professor who moved from Princeton University to Seoul National University’s Business School to follow his Korean wife, had a similar experience. Professor Kim stated, “Professor Schoenhair mentioned that when he tried to apply for research funding from the National Research Foundation of Korea, he found that there was no support in English, making it impossible for him to apply on his own,” adding, “The complicated identity verification system unique to Korea is also applied to foreigners.”
Such reasons have led many foreign professors to leave Korea. For instance, Eleanor Park Sorensen, who was hired as a professor in the Department of Liberal Studies at Seoul National University as a Korean adoptee, left the university in 2016. In another case, an American professor who came to the Department of Archaeology and Art History in 2008 returned to the U.S. after about a month without even notifying the school. At that time, the lack of support and the unfamiliarity of the Korean funding system for foreign professors were cited as reasons, and nearly 20 years later, the issue remains unchanged.
Professor Kim noted that in other Asian countries like Hong Kong, English is used as a basic language in academia, making it easier to attract foreign professors and researchers. He stated, “I also work in Hong Kong as a foreign teacher but do not feel any inconvenience,” adding, “The requirements for research funding reviews are straightforward, conducted solely in English, and the evaluations are generally entrusted to distinguished scholars from abroad, creating a generally agreeable atmosphere regarding the results.”
Professor Kim indicated that the language barriers at the foundation are a decisive obstacle to attracting international scholars to Korea. He pointed out, “To receive funding in Korea, one must upload and verify every paper achievement in places like the Korea Research Information (KRI) and the Integrative Research Information System (IRIS), but since there is no support for English, the process is extremely inconvenient,” stressing, “For those who have published extensively, the time spent uploading manually will increase, and expecting foreign scholars to go through such processes to obtain funding in Korea is a matter of embarrassment.”
He noted that the inability to expand the review process overseas is for similar reasons. Professor Kim stated, “If funding applications are written only in Korean, then the reviews must also be conducted by Korean researchers, which leads to a biased, insular thinking without broad perspectives,” adding, “In contrast, overseas, funding reviews involving European researchers are handled by researchers in Hong Kong or Singapore, creating global reviews and feedback, and we should consider such aspects.” He emphasized, “The starting point for all of this is English,” stating further, “Recently, AI technology has improved, so even incorporating English into the system doesn’t incur significant expenses.”