Rep. Min Byung-joo of the Saenuri Party and others participants in a seminar

 at the National Assembly on June 4 during which they pledged to devote themselves to 

creating an environment for R&D activities for state-funded research institutes for building the “creative economy.”

   Rep. Min Byung-joo of the ruling Saenuri Party is devoting herself to creating an environment optimal for R&D activities by state-funded research institutes in keeping with the Park Geun-hye government’s creative economy.

Rep. Min and Rep. Lee Sang-min of the Democratic Party hosted a seminar on the development of state-funded research institutes for the realization of state affairs based on science & technology regarding the creative economy in cooperation with the State-funded Research Institute Directors’ Council, also known as “Gwachulhyup,” at the National Assembly Parliamentarians’ Hall on June 4. 

The seminar was designed to take a look at ways of implementing state-funded research institutes’ strategies to realize the creative economy, announced by Gwachulhyup on May 7, and collect views of experts from government, research institute, and academic circles. 

Rep. Min is seeking to implement a project to create an environment optimal for researchers’ studies. On April 17, she sounded out science & technology experts’ views by hosting a seminar on the direction of the development of state-funded research institutes in an era of the creative economy with a focus on science & technology.

The latest seminar covered two topics: promoting collaboration and interdisciplinary study among state-funded research institutes and building an environment for stabilizing R&D activities. 

The first task force of state-funded research institutes touched on the direction of promoting collaboration and interdisciplinary study and reestablishing their roles. 

A case study of collaboration among the National Emergency Management Agency, the Hwaseong City Government, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology/Korea Research Institute of Standards  and Science, and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning on how to cope with emergencies such as chemical substance blasts was presented during the event. 

The Korean chemical industry has made tremendous strides, with the value of its exports surpassing those of the semiconductor and automobile industries to top the list last year. Of late, fires and blasts have taken place, causing huge property damage. An average of 20-odd chemical substance accidents occur yearly due to the chemical industry’s infrastructure, which is growing in size, complexity and decrepitude. The reality is that a spate of chemical accidents have exposed the vulnerabilities, including a shortage of experts on effective responses and a dearth of a working-level cooperative organization in charge of responding to chemical accidents. 

Rep. Min Myung-joo gives her speech at a seminar on the development of state-funded research

 institutes for the realization of state affairs based on science and technology regarding the creative economy. 

Special Committee on the Creative Economy and Job Creation

The ruling Saenuri party has inaugurated an in-house special committee on the creative economy and job creation to prop up the Park Geun-hye government’s national agendas.

The committee, headed by Rep. Kim Hak-yong, senior vice chairman of the party’s policy committee, is manned by 21 members, including Rep. Min Byung-joo and six other lawmakers along with 13 experts from academic and research institute circles. 

Photos on courtesy of  Rep. Min Byung-joo’s office