tokyo

Kim: beleaguered but backing science. Credit: AHN YOUNG-JOON/AP

South Korea's recently elected president, Kim Dae-jung, is living up to a pre-election promise to strengthen the administration of science and technology. Despite political difficulties in establishing his new administration, he has upgraded the status of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and last week appointed a powerful politician to head the ministry.

Observers of Korean science policy have long argued that MOST lacks the power needed to fulfil its responsibility for coordinating science and technology policy across all ministries. Like Japan's Science and Technology Agency, MOST is more of an ‘agency’ than a true ministry. It is also surrounded by powerful ministries, such as that of trade and industry, with their own agendas for science and technology.

In 1993 the administration of former president Kim Young-sam talked of restructuring the government and strengthening the administration of science and technology (see Nature 364, 377; 1993), but nothing was done. In contrast, even before his inauguration in late February, Kim Dae-jung pushed through the National Assembly a bill that included upgrading MOST to a full ministry.

He even talked of appointing a deputy prime minister of science and technology, alongside the deputies for economic planning and unification. This would have raised MOST to the highest level of government. But in the end the positions of deputy prime minister were removed in the downsizing and reorganization of government.

In another show of support for science and technology, a few weeks before his inauguration, Kim visited the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the country's longest-standing government institute for science and technology, and promised to raise the status of scientists in Korean society.

In line with strengthening MOST, Kim has appointed a powerful politician to head the ministry. The new minister, Kang Chang-hee, is secretary-general of the United Liberal Democrats (ULD) party, the conservative coalition partner of Kim's administration.

Kim made this and other cabinet appointments — despite a deadlock with the majority opposition party about his nomination of his conservative ally, Kim Jong-Pil, honorary president of the ULD, as prime minister — by persuading the outgoing prime minister to propose the new cabinet members.

Some scientists at KIST had been hoping that one of the institute's former presidents might head the new ministry. Nevertheless, one KIST scientist comments that, as a politician, Kang may be a more effective head of the ministry than any scientist. Kang, a graduate and former professor of the Korea Military Academy, headed a national assembly committee on communications and science in 1996, and has been involved in the development of science and technology policy.

With Korea still suffering a severe economic crisis, however, Kang faces an uphill task in strengthening science and technology at a time when government budgets have been cut and their purchasing power for importing scientific equipment and reagents, and for recruiting overseas personnel, have been halved because of the collapse of the won.