The "Future" Ministry and ICT R&D in South Korea

Just over a year ago the Park Geun-hye administration took office and, despite some political opposition, created a powerful new "super" ministry that Koreans and the media here refer to simply as the "Future Ministry," (미래부). The full English title is Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, for which the acronym MSIP is frequently used.
As discussed in numerous earlier posts, the Future Ministry plays a key role in implementation of the Park Geun-hye administration's signature "creative economy" initiative.  With the formation of this new ministry, it assumed responsibility for all of the nation's ICT sector research and development.   In that regard, I've recently been reading a Korean language report published by the ministry in February. (2014년 정보통신·방송 기술진흥 시행계획) (2014 Telecommunications and Broadcasting Technology Implementation Plan).  That report contains a diagram that helps to explain how the ICT R&D system was reorganized into ten sectors within the Future Ministry, consolidating functions that had been dispersed under the previous Lee Myung-bak administration to the Korea Communications Commission, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The English translations from the Korean are my own.  (click on the diagram to see a full size version). I found this diagram of particular interest because of my recent research with Professor Park Jaemin of Konkuk University that focused on government reorganizations affecting the ICT sector from 1980 to the present.  Our article was finally published by Telecommunications Policy this month.

More on the mega-ministry (미래창조과학부)

As promised, this post contains some additional details on the new mega-ministry which is being called the Ministry of Future Planning and Science in many English papers (미래부 or "Future Ministry" is the shorthand reference being used in the Korean press). The following details come from an article in yesterday's Joongang Daily (Korean language) and another that appeared in The Korea Times today.

• The new Ministry will be very large, and is referred to as "mammoth," with more than 800 staff members at the start, about 300 of whom will be transferred from the Korea Communications Commission and another 250 from the current Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
• The "Future Ministry" will have two Vice-Ministers.  One will oversee future planning research and science and technology policy.  The second will be in charge of broadcasting-telecommunications convergence, frequency allocation strategies, telecommunications policy and  broadcasting promotion strategy. 
• It will have responsibility for the allocation of approximately 17 trillion Korean (over 15 billion U.S. dollars) won in national research and development funding.  This was formerly controlled by the Presidential National Science and Technology Council which is being abolished.
• It is envisioned as a giant engine to foster the creative economy promised by President Park Geun-hye by fostering contents--platforms--networks--devices (CPNT) and promoting the ICT industry. Notably, it brings the ICT policy responsibilities that had been scattered among several ministries back into one place, with the exception of telecommunications regulation by the KCC.
• Key responsibilities that were formerly under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism are being transferred to the Future Ministry.  These include promoting the circulation of high quality, authentic digital contents, core technology development, database industry development, growth projects for SMEs and the digital contents platforms business.

As noted in The Korea Times, "In her inaugural address on Feb. 25, Park defined a creative economy as the convergence of science and technology with industry, a fusion of culture with industry and the blossoming of creativity across industry sector borders."

Status report: Ministry of Future Planning and Science, 미래창조과학부

President Park Geun-hye has taken up residence in the Blue House, but will be unable to effectively govern until her reorganization plan is approved, perhaps with modifications, by the National Assembly.    At the center of disagreements in the Assembly is the flagship ministry for her new government, the proposed "Ministry of Future Planning and Science" (미래창조과학부).  This post is a status report on the key issues, based on my reading of the Korean and English press reports over the past few days.
First, as noted by many reports, including one in www.pressbyple.com (in Korean) a citizen's journalism outlet, the question of the English name for the new ministry has itself become a matter of some controversy and a great deal of speculation in the press.  As I noted in an earlier post, the official English designation for the new ministry has not officially been announced.  However, many press accounts have quickly adopted "Ministry of Future, Planning and Science" after noting that this was the English translation used in the official printed program for President Park's inauguration on Monday of this week.   The press have used this translation despite denials by representatives of President Park that this is the official English designation.
Second, the proposal to give the new ministry oversight over the broadcasting industry, while supported by the ruling party, is being opposed by the opposition party.  The general claim by the opposition is that such a move would undermine the integrity and fairness of the broadcasters.  As I noted in a post earlier this month, this disagreement shows how politically contentious broadcasting remains even in this era of powerful new digital networks and social media.
A third, related point is that the Park Geun-hye government has clearly identified convergence as a central policy priority.  As reported in the Korea Joongang Daily, President Park made the following comment at her first presidential secretariat meeting yesterday.“I have put convergence as the key task to revive our economy. Because the Ministry of Future Planning and Science is not approved yet, I earnestly hope the National Assembly will pass the plan as soon as possible.”
In conclusion, I would simply observe that the complexity and multi-layered, multifaceted nature of convergence itself appears to be one of the reasons that President Park has proposed such a broad, sweeping name for the new ministry, encompassing the concepts of "Future," "Creation" and "Science."  In other words, the difficulty in arriving at a final, official English designation for the Ministry is not only or simply a matter of translation, but also reflects the real underlying complexities of technological, industry and media convergence.  In today's world, science and technology cannot be separated from ICT, at least when it comes to the formulation and implementation of national policy.

More on the "Future, Creative, Science" Ministry 미래창조과학부

There is big news circulating today in Korea after yesterday's announcement by the incoming administration of President-elect Park Geun-hye that it will change the existing government structure of fifteen full and two lower level ministries to seventeen full and three lower level ministries.  The changes, which require approval by the National Assembly, could potentially have a profound effect on the nation's approach to ICT policy.

A powerful new ministry, which has not yet received its official English designation, incorporates the key words future, creation( or create, make), and science in its Korean title (미래창조과학부)  As noted in my previous post, the government should get good advice when it designates the official English name, because a literal translation will simply not do.  So far I've seen it referred to in the local English language press as "Ministry of Creativity and Science," "Ministry on the Future, Creativity and Science," and other variations.  As reported by The Joongang Daily, the new ministry will oversee ICT policies with a Vice Minister to be appointed in this area.

Some are still arguing that the new government should restore something like the former Ministry of Information and Communication.  For example, the Donga Ilbo yesterday wrote that  it was regrettable "  ... that a vice minister for the future, creativity and science ministry will take charge of ICT rather than a separate ministry to be established. ICT is a massive bombshell of future business that will transform the maps of all industries, including shopping, education, medicine and energy, by integrating with the smart revolution. Korea is believed to need a ministry exclusively in charge of ICT affairs that can predict changes, prepare the country for such changes and provide necessary support, and that can give opinions and suggestions based on professional insight and a sense of responsibility to the Cabinet and the National Assembly."

More on this issue as plans for the new government structure are finalized.

Reactions to proposed "super ministry" for future, creativity and science

As might be expected, there is a public debate taking place in Korea these days over the government reorganization proposals announced earlier this week by the incoming administration of President-elect Park Geun-hye.  Equally unsurprising is that one big topic in the debate centers on the proper approach to ICT policy in this era of the networked information economy.

• Members of the Korea Communications Commission, one in particular, are not happy at what amounts to a demotion of that commission's responsibilities.  As reported by The Korea Times, it will continue to have ICT-sector regulatory responsibilities, but policymaking and strategies for industry growth in the sector will become part of the new "super ministry," yet to receive its official English name, that will be responsible for future creation of science, including ICT.
• Many people at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) are no doubt unhappy because the proposed new super ministry would take over several functions currently assigned to the MKE, which will revert to its pre-Lee Myung Bak administration role as Ministry of Industry Trade and Resources (Energy).
• As noted in the previous post (below), people who argued for restoration of the Ministry of Information and Communication are unhappy because  they perceive ICT-policy being handled at the Vice-minister level under the new super ministry.

The national assembly will need to approve the proposed governmental changes, so the current debates and discussions may have some impact on the final shape of the new government.  However, it is highly likely that the new "super ministry" will emerge, as it was one of the central campaign pledges made last Fall by candidate Park Geun-hye.  The graphic below, published by The Hankyoreh,  may help a bit to understand the forthcoming changes (click to see a full-size version).

As to the ultimate shape of the new super ministry and its relationship to ICT policy and regulation, I have several observations.   First, the debates over restructuring need to agree on a common concept or understanding of digital convergence.   In fact, convergence is a much broader, multi-faceted and complex subject than just the convergence of telecommunications and information technology, on the one hand, with broadcasting, on the other.  Some of the public statements being made these days seem to reflect limited conceptions of convergence.  However, the reason for including ICT policy in the purview of the new super ministry is that these new digital computing and communications technologies are what economists call "general purpose technologies" that pervade all industries and segments of the economy.

Second, the inclusion of (창조, the Korean word for "create" or "make") in the new ministry's title is significant in that one of the major challenges for future ICT policy, broadly conceived, is to help Korea move away from its heavy dependence on hardware manufacturing and export and toward greater involvement with software and content-based services. 

Finally, while some have argued that incorporate of ICT policymaking in the new super ministry under the leadership of a vice minister does not give adequate emphasis or prominence to this area of policy, there is another perspective that needs to be considered.   Reportedly, the reason that ICT policy is being included in the proposed new Ministry is that President elect Park Geun-hye feels strongly that ICT should be integrated with and not separated from the nation's overall science and technology policy.   This is in line with the need for a broad understanding and general agreement about what digital convergence and the information revolution is all about.  

The importance of a name for the new Future Ministry (미래창조과학부)

Not surprisingly, the question of the name for the new Future Ministry (미래창조과학부) continues to be debated in the local press, for reasons I've touched on in several earlier posts.  Today The Korea Times carried an article on the topic.   Some papers have been calling it the Ministry of Future Planning and Science, even though the word "planning" is not part of the Korean name.  Presumably this is because candidate Ahn Cheol-soo proposed a Ministry of Future Planning, while campaigning for the presidency last Fall.   For background on that, see this Hankyoreh article.

President Park's impeachment and the future ICT policy in Korea

Yesterday Korea's constitutional court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.  Consequently, she was immediately removed from office and a snap presidential election will be held on or before May 9.
As readers of this blog will know very well, I've frequently commented on former President Park's background and her signature creative economy initiative. (For example, see these posts, and these)
The events leading to the impeachment and removal from office of President Park Geun-hye came as a surprise to me, despite the years I've lived in Korea. The situation is more complex than it may appear from mainstream news media reporting.  Former President Park did indeed major in electrical engineering at Sogang University, which helps to understand her creative economy emphasis.
As close observers of Korea well know, every presidential election is followed by a reorganization of the nation's leading ministries.  Sometimes these reorganizations are minor and sometimes sweeping, as when President Lee Myung Bak assumed office in 2008.  Further complicating matters for international observers is the re-naming of ministries along with the challenge of translating the ministry name into English.  I did a series of posts on this matter following Park Geun-hye's election as president.
The danger that the incoming administration faces, following the snap elections which will take place within 60 days, is "throwing the baby out with the bathwater," to use an old English expression.  In fact, Korea's "Future Ministry," named the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning in English, has done a number of worthwhile things, including the establishment of 18 Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation (CCEIs) throughout Korea.  More importantly, it brought the former Ministry of Science and Technology under one roof with the Ministry of Information and Communications.  After all, the main technology driving changes in the world today is digital technology, allowing dramatic increases in the human ability to store, compute and communicate information on a global or even inter planetary scale.
Given the rapid pace of digital development, globally and in Korea it would seem that the incoming administration might be well advised to keep those elements of the Park Geun-hye administration policies that are realistic and forward looking, and avoid the temptation to throw everything out and start again.  This is especially crucial given the widespread recognition that Korea needs to make the transition from heavy reliance on hardware manufacturing and export to software and services.

"5G Movie in a second": Korea intends to maintain its lead in speed

A few days ago, as reported in a Korean language news bulletin largely translated by AFP,  the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced the Korean government's intention to introduce a 5G wireless service fast enough to download a full length movie in one second. "We helped fuel national growth with 2G services in the 1990s, 3G in the 2000s and 4G around 2010. Now it is time to take preemptive action to develop 5G," the ministry said in a statement. "Countries in Europe, China and the US are making aggressive efforts to develop 5G technology ... and we believe there will be fierce competition in this market in a few years," it said. Under the roadmap, a trial 5G service will be rolled out in 2017 and a fully commercial service in December 2020. Priority will be given to developing key features for the new network, including Ultra-HD and hologram transmission as well as cutting-edge social networking services. The Korean language news release specifically mentions implementation of R&D projects in connection with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. A major goal of this project is to make Korea more competitive in the network infrastructure equipment market globally. According to the Future Ministry, Korea currently has only a 4.4 percent share of this market. AFP reported that "Chinese equipment makers including Huawei have expanded their presence in the global market from 12 percent in 2007 to 26 percent in 2012. Huawei announced in November that it was looking at a 5G commercial rollout by 2020, with a minimum investment of $600 million to develop the technology. Seoul intends to take up to a 20 percent stake in the world's telecom infrastructure equipment market by 2020, according to the ministry." This announcement by South Korea's leading ICT-sector ministry is hardly surprising given the nation's track record in recent decades. Many expect Korea to be a major player in development of the world's next generation network infrastructure. However, as noted in earlier posts, the real value to be created by next generation networks will be in the content, services and software that run on them.

Communication and media issues at the center of Korea's political impasse

The political impasse over President Park Geun-hye's government reorganization continues, as does public discussion and mainstream news media coverage of the issue.  For example, an article in The Korea Herald carried the headline "New Giant Ministry Mired in Political Wrangling."
As noted in the article, the new ministry, which focuses on building a “creative economy,” would be in charge of devising policies involving developing future growth engines in information communication technology as well as science. “Some say that the new government branch will have too much power and some others say it’s just being overemphasized, but the main message is that it aims to create new jobs and projects through IT and science,” said Chang Soon-heung, a professor of nuclear quantum engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Chang, who is a leading authority in nuclear study, has been a part of Park’s transition team, helping the new president to establish a more creative and technology-driven economy ― drafting measures on developing the software industry and supporting start-up firms while setting up the infrastructure for the new ministry. He further noted that “Creativity has become a virtue of utmost importance … we now have to compete with creativity, and the role of the Future Planning and Science Ministry will play a critical role in making that happen.”
An article in The Korea IT News covered a meeting of scholars hosted by the Korea Federation of Science and Technology Societies on March 5. Some of the experts in attendance pointed out that the Ministry of Future-Creation Science (English name to be decide later) must lead convergence and support the creation of an ecosystem for producers of intellectual property (IP). Professor YI Park of the Digital Media School, Ewha Women’s University, suggested that intellectual property should be used as the tool for convergence. “It is widely understood that there is science and technology on one side of the Ministry, and ICT on the other side. We need a successful convergence technology package that will bridge the two sides,” commented Prof. Park.

Synergies expected from new "Super Ministry" 미래창조과학부

As reported in the Seoul Shinmun,(Korean language article) as part of a series on the proposed government reorganization under President-elect Park Geun-hye, the convergence of the fields of science and technology with information and communications technology (ICT) is expected to create synergies leading to future growth engines.  As the article puts it, "The field of science and technology together with the field of ICT in the Ministry for Future Science Innovation are like the two wheels of a bicycle.  (Note:  The foregoing is my translation for the English name of the new ministry.  The Korean does not translate well literally and the official English designation for the new super ministry has not yet been announced by the government.)
The article goes on to note that the proposed new super ministry indicates that the transition committee for restructuring of government is placing more emphasis on the expectation of a synergy effect between science and technology (S&T) and ICT than on worries about so-called "dinosaur ministries."
This news seems to clearly indicate that the incoming government of President-elect Park Geun-hye has a broad understanding of the concept of digital convergence.  In other words, the incoming government appears to be signalling its recognition that convergence is a broad, multi-faceted and pervasive phenomenon, not limited to the ICT sector and the well known convergence between broadcasting and telecommunications.   Instead, digital convergence is a reality that affects all industries, organizations and groups in society, both now and in the future.

Communicating Korea's Telecommunications Accomplishments

In the naming and renaming of government ministries recently, the Ministry of Information and Communication was eliminated and its functions dispersed in three directions. Some of its functions were place in a new ministry, initially given the English name of "Ministry of the Knowledge-based Economy," and quickly changed to "Ministry of Knowledge Economy." Other functions go to the new Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, while still others will go to the new Broadcasting and Communications Commission. So, as matters stand, the terms information and communication, along with their variants, no longer find their place in a Ministry name. The problem here is the public, instantly global message this sends. Put otherwise, it is the challenge of properly "branding" and communicating South Korea's considerable achievements in the field of communications, telecommunications and information society development. Internationally, two aspects of this problem are apparent:

• As Suh Seung-Mo, the chairman of Korea IT SME & Venture Business Association,put it in a January 9, 2008 article in ZDNetKorea, "while competing foreign countries have been establishing IT related government organizations, Korea is likely to go back against this international trend. If so, it will discredit the Korean image of IT superpower that we have built."
• The major international organizations in this field, notably the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have adopted the terminology of "information" and "communication" as well. A glance at the ITU website will see the priority given to the World Summit on the Information Society and to information and communications technology and terminology generally. The OECD website is also loaded with information that uses this terminology. Both organizations, along with other international bodies, are concerned with the digital divide, the internet economy, the growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the shaping of a global information society.

The risk Korea takes in eliminating a ministry that contained both "information" and "communication" in favor of the Knowledge Economy Ministry, is that it it may detract from the nation's efforts to help shape the ongoing international dialogue and detract from the branding of Korea's information society efforts, broadly speaking. Readers internationally will immediately wonder what the new Ministries do and what is the significance of their names. Finally, as readers of this blog will know, I have been making a case that developments in information and communications technology (ICT), represented by Moore's law, underpin the emerging "information age" or "information society." Just as communication is the fundamental human process, ICT is the fundamental source of development in such diverse fields as biology, nanotechnology, medical sciences, energy infrastructure and artificial intelligence, to name a few. The issue of fundamental or basic, versus applied research is important and will be addressed in future posts.

Korea's New "Knowledge-Based Economy Ministry"

South Korea's new government under President Lee Myung Bak has created a Knowledge-based Economy Ministry. The new ministry is a product of the previous Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy plus some parts from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Information and Communication. In a related development the government is creating a new Broadcasting-Communications Commission, as an independent body directly under the President. It will consolidate elements of the old Broadcasting Commission with parts of the former Ministry of Information and Communications to regulate both broadcasting and telecommunications. The presidential transition team has promised "epoch regulatory reforms," claiming that Korea is 5-10 years behind other advanced countries in the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications. The knowledge economy framework formed the basis of a recent case study of the Korean economy by the World Bank and several leading Korean research institutes. That study was publicly released at a June 2006 conference here in Seoul and published in book form last month. Both the Knowledge Economy framework and the reorganization of South Korea's government will be the subject of future posts here. Among other things, the list of recommended government web-sites in the right-hand navigation bar of this blog will change. Along with many others from industry, academia and government, I will try to interpret the significance of these changes.

The proposed centerpiece of the reorganized "Park Geun-hye government"

There is a great deal of discussion taking place these days about the shape of the new government that will take power later this month. Earlier this week a spokesman for the transition committee announced that the official name of the new government would be the "Park Geun-hye" government. This followed the approach used by Lee Myung-bak, but departed from an earlier practice in which President Kim Young Sam used the name "Civilian Government" to emphasize that he was the first civilian president elected after a series of military leaders, and President Kim Dae Jung used the name "Government of the People." President Roh Moo Hyun called his government the "Participatory Government."
Much of the discussion is centering on the proposed new "미래창조과학부," the official English name of which has not been announced.  It includes the words future, creation, science and ministry, but they do not translate literally into English.  Something like "Ministry for Future Scientific Innovation" might be more appropriate.
The proposed responsibilities and functions of the new ministry have already been announced.  If approved by the National Assembly it will become one of the largest ministries, with over 900 staff members.  The sheer size and importance of the ministry (it is referred to as a "super ministry,") have naturally led to discussion about where it should be located.  Some suggest that it should be headquartered in Sejong City, where a number of other branches of government are already in the process of being moved.   Others say that the government complex in Gwacheon would be a better choice, especially now that many government officials have moved from Gwacheon to Sejong City.
While much of the nation is celebrating the big Lunar New Year holiday, these discussions about the new government and its ministerial centerpiece will continue unabated.
For me, as for most readers of this blog, a most interesting aspect of the government reorganization is the manner in which the new Park Geun-hye government attempts to unify science and technology policy (STP) with information and communication technology(ICT) policy.  ICT, after all, is part of STP.  Arguably, it is the most important policy element insofar as the information revolution is the driving force in today's social, political and economic changes. We are all adjusting to the realities made possible by new digital networks, powered by ever more powerful, smaller and cheaper semiconductors, sensors and related devices.

Agreement reached on new super ministry (미래창조과학부)

Over the weekend, ruling and opposition party negotiators reached an agreement which, if approved by the full National Assembly in a vote this week, will confirm the rest of President Park Geun-hye's government reorganization plan, including its centerpiece, the Ministry for Future Planning and Science.  As reported by the Korea Joongang Daily, "The agreement came 47 days after the bills were submitted by the Saenuri Party to the Assembly and 21 days since the Park administration began. “President Park expressed her appreciation to the National Assembly for reaching an agreement on the government restructuring plan,” said Kim Haing, a Blue House spokeswoman. “She also said the government and the ruling and opposition parties should cooperate to empower the Ministry of Future Planning and Science to revive our economy and create jobs.” "
A key issue that held up approval of the government reorganization was the claim by the opposition party that formation of the new super ministry would be used by the Park Geun-hye administration to control broadcasting.  That issue was solved by agreement to set up a special comittee on broadcasting.  As noted in the Korea Joongang Daily article," To ensure broadcasters’ neutrality, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to establish a special committee on the issue in the March legislative session. The committee will be composed of an equal number of members from the Saenuri Party and the DUP. It will be chaired by the opposition DUP during its six-month term." More on the specifics of the new Ministry in later posts.

A "Future and Creative Science Ministry" (미래창조과학부) for Korea

Korea is in the midst of a process that takes place following every presidential election, which involves the preparation of final plans for the reorganization of government.  This frequently involves the reshuffling of cabinet-level ministries and other agencies, often based on public pledges made during the election campaign.

One of President-elect Park Geun-hye's prominent campaign promises was to establish a new Ministry, called the 미래창조과학부 in Korean, and which has been variously and awkwardly translated into English by local papers.   So far the best translations I've seen is "Ministry of the Future and Creative Science,"  as used in an article in The Korea Times.   I hope that the new government will get good advice before finalizing the official English title of the new ministry, to avoid any awkwardness, as occurred with the naming of the current Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE).

As discussed in a recent editorial in the Joongang Daily, are the subject of much discussion and lobbying these days.  The stakes are high and the outcome relates to the paper I'll be presenting next week at the PTC13 Conference, as noted in an earlier post.  I'll be following the Korean and English papers closely in the coming weeks as the shape of the new government and its implications for national ICT and digital convergence policies becomes clear.

Science and ICT Ministry to focus on technology, job creation

Now that its Minister is formally appointed, news about specific activities planned by the new Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning is being published.  As noted by Yonhap News, the "super ministry"  plans to focus a great deal of money and effort in the coming several years on technology upgrades and job creation.  Also, The Korea ITTimes is reporting that the ministry plans to spend KRW 31.5 billion nurturing IT talent.  It reported that "The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) will plough KRW 31.47 billion into fostering IT and IT convergence experts. The MSIP said Sunday it will provide KRW 22.17 billion to universities’ IT research centers and KRW 9.3 billion to projects aimed to nurture highly-skilled workers in the IT convergence sector.The MSIP’s two projects, “Support for University IT Research Centers” and “Project to Nurture Highly-skilled IT Convergence Experts,” will benefit about 2,200 college students and nearly 180 companies’ IT and IT convergence researches respectively. As for Support for University IT Research Centers, each beneficiary (university) will receive KRW 600 million to KRW 800 million annually over the next four years to make sure universities produce excellent IT workers in a sustainable manner and effectively carry out industry-academia joint R&D projects. This year, a total of 30 universities will be covered by Support for University IT Research Centers."

Korea's new push in semiconductors

As reported by the Korea IT News and other industry sources, South Korea is planning to begin a national semiconductor R&D project that  will require funding on the order of  $2.2 billion (2.5 trillion KRW), with a goal of gaining the upper hand in next-generation semiconductor industries and maintaining Korea's position as a leading producer of semiconductors.  The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, formerly Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning MSIP)  and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) are currently planning for the R&D project, which will have a duration of 10 years.
The rationale for this new program includes the observation that semiconductors are currently this nation's largest export. The Korea IT News article notes that “Because semiconductor is a number one export item of South Korea, it is a major industry that supports South Korea’s economy.” said a representative for a government research institute that is participating in this planning. “South Korean Government is making such decision because it believes that it needs decisive investments into R&D in order to separate its gap from its competitors such as China.”
The project will be carried out from the second half of 2018.  Furthermore, the report explains that the project is large divided into AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things), and equipment and materials related to production of next-generation semiconductors and will cover development of fundamental technologies and commercialized technologies. While fundamental technologies will be managed by the Ministry of Science and ICT(MSIT), commercialized technologies will be managed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).
As many prior posts in this blog have noted, semiconductors are a central technology for the digital era and Korea's success in this industry stems from crucial policy decisions made in 1980-81.

Future Ministry launches new "Creative Economy Town" website

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has just launched a new "Creative Economy Town" website, as reported by The Korea Herald and other media.  The site, at www.creativekorea.or.kr is aimed at helping people with advice and information on how to flesh out their ideas and technologies into a business.  To date, the site is only available in the Korean language, but it looks interesting.  It definitely appears to be a step, here in Korea, toward open innovation through sharing in the Korean language.  Ultimately, how it relates to similar efforts in English and other languages will be interesting.

Korea's highways and its information superhighways

I've been interested for some time in the origins of the "information superhighway" metaphor and how it took root in Korea shortly after Vice President Al Gore used it in a 1994 speech at UCLA. (e.g., see this earlier post)  However, I've recently become aware of information that sheds additional light on the power and popularity of the information superhighway metaphor, especially here in the Korean context.

First, my colleague Professor Chihyung Jeon published an article in Technology and Culture (January 2010, Vol. 51), entitled "A Road to Modernization and Unification:  The Construction of the Gyeongbu Highway in South Korea."  His article included "An Imaginary Drawing of Korea in the Year 2000" from the Dong A Ilbo, January 1, 1970 (shown at left).  Professor Jeon's research explains how President Park Chung Hee, and the Dong A Ilbo newspaper, used the metaphor of the new highway, Korea's first expressway, to symbolize the dual challenges of economic development and national reunification.  Jeon notes that, in terms of economic development along, the Gyeongbu Highway became a symbol of the "Miracle on the Han River," as South Korea's post-war economic boom became widely characterized.  However, instead of focusing on the economic impact per se, his essay zeroes in on the manner in which this famous highway became such a powerful symbol in the nation's recent historical memory.  The full article can be accessed through Project Muse or via the journal online.  I highly recommend it.
The second piece of new information came by way of yesterday's Hankyoreh newspaper, in an article which showed up when I did a Google this morning search for "미래창조과학부," the proposed new Ministry for Future Science and Innovation (my translation--the government has not yet announced the official English designation for the ministry, nor has it received the necessary stamp of approval by the National Assembly).  The Hankyoreh article (Korean language) basically argues that President Park's tenacity in insisting on approval of the new Ministry for Future Science and Innovation is because, upon close examination,  such an "ICT expressway" forms the foundation for realization of the "creative economy" one of her major campaign promises, and also the "second miracle on the Han River," that she invoked in her inaugural address last week.  The article quoted the presidential spokesman who explicitly compared the challenges faced by the proposed new ministry and the Korea Communications Commission to deal with cable, IPTV, satellite and other means for content distribution with the role played by the Gyeongbu expressway back in the mid-twentieth century industrial era.  "In the old days" according to the spokesman, the expressway stimulated the building of nearby factories and the distribution of new goods and services.  Even more specifically, the spokesman noted that just as President Park's father had utilized the Gyeongbu expressway project to create the first "Miracle on the Han River," the new president views the ICT superhighway as a core component of her plans to create a second miracle on the Han.
Metaphors play an important role in politics and in the public promotion of policy all around the world, and Korea is no exception.  For Koreans, the Gyeongbu expressway is a powerful political symbol and metaphor, which contributes in interesting ways to the influence of the newer "information superhighway" metaphor.  This post only begins to suggest some of those ways.  

Official name: "Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning" (미래창조과학부)

Finally, the government has announced the official English name for the new super ministry that has been the subject of numerous earlier posts.  As reported by Yonhap News Agency and other media, it is the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.
The new ministry has also published a Korean language web site (view it at this link), with some pages still under construction.