Leadership vacancies hamper Korea’s research initiatives

[Photo by Yonhap]

Amid the intensifying global race for scientific and technological innovations, there are concerns about South Korea falling behind due to prolonged leadership vacancies at national research institutions, which in turn results in delayed decision-making.

Data from the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) that was obtained by Maeil Business Newspaper on Sunday reveals that the average period for appointing new heads at government-funded research institutes was 154 days from 2019 to 2023, or almost half a year of leadership vacancies on average.

The Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) was tasked with leading a 1 trillion won ($723 million) project to construct a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose synchrotron radiation accelerator in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province in 2020. However, KBSI faced a 376-day leadership vacuum during the critical period of 2022 to 2023, effectively halting the project and resulting in a 13-month delay from the initial plan. During this time, China completed the design of the world‘s largest particle accelerator and began construction with a $5 billion investment. The particle accelerator field is considered a benchmark of national scientific and technological prowess.

Leadership vacancies also persist at other research institutes, with the World Institute of Kimchi recording a vacancy period of 651 days, KBSI 376 days, the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science 288 days, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute 258 days, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology 252 days.

Six of the 23 research institutes under NST currently have vacant head positions. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute have not even begun the appointment process even after the end of the previous directors’ terms.