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Mon, December 11, 2023 | 06:26
Business
Reactions mixed on super-ministry
미래창조과학부 창설 두고 찬반 엇갈려
Posted : 2013-01-16 16:32
Updated : 2013-01-16 16:32
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By Kim Tong-hyung

Can creating a "super" ministry bringing together science, research and information technology help pull the country out of the quicksand of slow growth?

Incoming President Park Geun-hye certainly hopes so in announcing the tentatively named Ministry of Future Creative Science that will be one of the larger offices of her government.

Recent trends in bureaucracy require government organizations to be compact, quick and targeted in their purpose. But Park appears to be taking an old-school approach in designing a new ministry that will absorb the powers currently exercised separately by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

While incumbent President Lee Myung-bak had speechified about a small government five years ago, his creation of the KCC, Korea's first converged regulator for broadcasting and telecommunications, triggered concerns about combining too much power into a single body.

But judging by the plans unveiled by Park's presidential transition team, the KCC might look like a paper airplane to the future creative science ministry's spaceship. Park's strategists claim that an overall ministry for science and information technology is necessary to provide a strategic direction in the development of creative industries that at present do not exist.

However, critics are easily found in the Lee government, opposition political parties and business sector, denouncing the move as an outdated idea that could result in the over-centralization of power, inefficiency and more bureaucratic red tape.

Scientists predictably welcomed Park's blueprint as they had been complaining in the past few years that Lee's decision to squeeze the Ministry of Science and Technology into the Ministry of Education stunted the country's progress in basic science and research by diverting political support.

Much of the resistance comes from telecommunications carriers, Internet companies and policymakers from the KCC, who claim that Park's plan represents a snub for information technology.

According to the presidential transition team, the new ministry will act as a "control tower" for market development and research in science and creative industries in electronics, telecommunications and the Internet. The concentration of powers might give it an annual 20 trillion won research and development budget to work with.

Aside of its function as a regulator for telecommunications, radio and television, the KCC had also called the shots in designing and executing growth policies in these industries.

Yang Mun-seok, one of the KCC's five executive commissioners and probably the most outspoken on the panel, was livid about Park's plans to reduce the agency to a one-dimensional watchdog.

"This is a disaster for the information and communication technology industry. This is one of those quintessential decisions made by those at the desk upstairs with no feel for and knowledge of the floor," he said.

"Those in Park's transition team seem to lack an understanding about the convergence between telecommunications and broadcast media and how they are reshaping industries and traditional boundaries. It's a mistake to divide the powers to regulate and promote the industries: You need both the carrot and the stick to be effective in designing and executing policies. Park's picture leaves the KCC with just the stick."

An executive from a mobile-phone carrier, who preferred not to be named, wondered whether his company will face heavy-handed government interference as it will be answering to two separate agencies.

Yang Hwi-bu, president of the Korea Cable Television and Telecommunications Association, doubted whether it's a good idea to mix science and information technology.

"Information and communication technology could be compared to a sprinter. Science and research are more like a long-distance runner. I think it would have been a better idea to strengthen the KCC's function in technology industry growth policies," he said.

An official from the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies had a more positive reaction to a bulked-up ministry dedicated to science, but wondered whether the size will come at the cost of pace and purpose. He was also concerned about the possibility that the ministry would become predominantly focused on industry instead of basic science and research.

"It takes years and sometimes a decade for advancements in science to start making a difference commercially. It remains to be seen whether the ministry can be patient when it's up and running to adapt to the fast changes in information technology," he said.


미래창조과학부 창설 두고 찬반 엇갈려

과학, 기술, IT 를 주무르는 “슈퍼”정부부처가 한국을 저성장의 늪에서 구원할 수 있을까? 대통령직인수위에서 발표한 미래창조과학부의 밑그림을 보면 적어도 차기 대통령 박근혜는 그렇게 확신하고 있는 듯하다.

최근의 관료주의 트렌드는 작고 빠르고 전문적인 정부조직을 선호해왔다. 하지만 현재 교육과학기술부, 방송통신위원회, 지식경제부가 나눠서 행사하고 있는 권한을 모두 흡수할 미래창조과학부의 구도는 박 당선자의 접근방식이 보다 고전적임을 입증하는 듯하다.

5년 전 이명박대통령의 인수위는 작은 정부를 표방했었다. 그러나 방송-통신업종의 융합규제기구로서 방송통신위원회의 설립은 오히려 너무 많은 권한을 한 기관에 몰아준 것이 아니냐는 우려를 불러왔었다. 지금은 그 논쟁들이 다소 어색하게 들린다. 방송통신위원회를 종이비행기에 비유하자면 미래창조과학부는 우주선으로 보이기 때문이다.

이러한 거대부처의 창설은 과학과 창조산업에 뚜렷한 방향성과 추진력을 불어넣을 수 있을 것이라는 기대도 있다. 하지만 과도한 권한의 집중은 비효율과 규제남용을 가져올 것이라는 걱정도 있다.
Emailthkim@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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