By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
The government should pay more attention to fundamental science research rather than spending money on already prospering applied science and technologies, said the new minister of education and science.
Kim Doh-yeon, who started working at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology last week, criticized previous governments for regarding science merely as a tool of economic growth.
``Science and technology research should not be pursued for economic development. They are what raises the dignity of a country,'' he said on Wednesday in a meeting with science reporters at his office in the government complex in Seoul.
He also said that Koreans should know that science can determine the future of a country.
``People in Japan and the United States know the importance of science and technology very well, because they experienced how (the nuclear bomb) ended the war in 1945,'' he said. ``Americans were thankful because they were losing 300 soldiers every day before that happened. Germans had a similar experience. But Korea has had no such lessons.''
According to a report released by the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI), less than one quarter of the government's science fund went to fundamental research in physics, mathematics, biology, chemistry and astrology in 2006. The rest was spent on applied sciences and technology such as IT and telecommunications. Seven of the government's ``10 Next-Generation Growth Engine'' projects are also about IT technology, the report said.
The SERI report asked the government to focus on six fundamental science fields, while leaving the IT and other profitable sectors to the private sector. The six fields are smart logistics and energy infrastructure; bionomics and drugs; renewable energies; unmanned military equipment; nanotechnology; and artificial intelligence.
Kim, the minister, was a renowned professor of Seoul National University's Department of Material Sciences & Engineering. He was appointed by President Lee Myung-bak to the post that supervises education and science policies.
The minister said that as a parent, he had personal complaints about the country's education system, but has been generally satisfied with science policies. ``I received good research funds from the government, so frankly speaking I had no problem with that,'' he said.
Kim said that the new ministry will restructure 130 officials from the former Ministry of Education and 60 from the former Ministry of Science and Technology.
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr