President Moon Jae-in speaks at a ceremony to announce the official commercialization of Korea’s 5G mobile telecom network for the first time in the world at the K-art Hall in Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul on May 8. (Photo on the courtesy of the website of Cheong Wa Dae)

As two years have passed since President Moon Jae-in took office, the Ministry of Science, Technology and ICT (MSIT) announced the achievements the government had made in the science, technology and ICT sectors on May 13.

For the past two years, the ministry evaluated its efforts to play a role as an integrator of private and government sector innovative capabilities to cope with the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The MSIT cited five achievements – building foundation to lead the 4th Industrial Revolution, establishing an eco-system of science & technology innovation, expanding future growth potential, enhancing corporate dynamics through regulatory reform and improving the quality of public life.

First, the ministry cited the nation’s commercialization of 5G mobile telecom network for the first time in the world in April. 5G is a key infrastructure for the 4th Industrial Revolution and the ministry established the so-called 5G Plus Strategy to preoccupy the new 5G industries whose value is predicted to soar to 1,161 trillion won by 2026.

And the data economy – dubbed “the crude oil of the future industry” – is invigorated, and an AI hub has been established after a shift into the data economy was declared last August, so data for learning AI has been provided to 730 SME and venture companies, the MSIT said.

Blockchain technology has been applied to overseas buying clearance service, an initial practice in the public sector, and intelligent convergence services such as self-driving, mobile call services, precision medicine, and smart SOC are analyzed to have been spread.

An Information protection regime, which had been divided into the MSIT and the Ministry of Interior and Safety & the Korea Communications Commission, has been integrated, so the corporate burden for certification has been eased with a 30 percent cut in the examination period and up to a halving certification fees.

Regarding achievements in the science sector, the ecosystem of autonomy and responsibility was a clear leader in the past two years. The Science & Technology Innovation Headquarters has been inaugurated to oversee inter-ministry science & technology policies, and the National Science & Technology Advisory Meeting, the top science & technology decision-making body, has been established to play role of “science & technology control tower” and ramp up inter-ministry innovation exploration, as well as coordination & mediation by reinstating a science & technology-related ministries’ meeting in a 11-year hiatus.

R&D feasibility studies have been overhauled, corresponding to the characteristics of the R&D sector like the shortening of a survey period to six months.

These moves have resulted in boosting the government’s R&D budget from a growth rate of around 1 percent to 4.4 percent in 2019 – surpassing 20 trillion won, the largest-ever. The ministry made efforts to establish ways of innovating the whole R&D process with a shift from task-oriented study into researcher-oriented one.

The MSIT also cited the outcomes of its scheme to expand future growth potential of the Korean economy. The ministry has expanded support for researcher-oriented basic study and established a full life cycle regime on basic study designed to provide support for stable study and minimize study vacuum so that excellent outcomes can be obtained.

Deputy Minister Chun Sung-bae in charge of planning and coordination at the Ministry of Science, Technology and ICT gives a briefing on the achievements the President Moon Jae-in government has made in science, technology & ICT sectors for the past two years. (Photo: MSIT)