Hyunyup Kwon's Sponsored Amendment to the Government-Funded Science and Technology Research Institutes Act Passes Plenary Session

Kwon Hyunyup: "No More Reckless Budget Cuts Like Those Under Yoon Suk Yeol"

The revision to the “Act on the Establishment, Operation, and Fostering of Government-Funded Science and Technology Research Institutes and Others” (the Government-Funded Science and Technology Research Institutes Act), sponsored by Hyunyup Kwon, a member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea (Suncheon, Gwangyang, Gokseong, Gurye 2nd District), passed the final plenary session of the National Assembly on July 23. The amendment was approved with 189 votes in favor out of 195 lawmakers present.

Assemblywoman Hyunyup Kwon sponsored the amendment to the Government-Funded Science and Technology Research Institutes Act on January 22. The Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee adopted the bill as a committee substitute on March 11, and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee approved it on April 22. The National Assembly subsequently gave final approval to the bill at the plenary session on July 23.

Hyungyup Kwon, Member of the National Assembly.

Under the current law, government-funded research institutes (hereinafter referred to as “research institutes”) are core institutions within the national R&D system. However, concerns have been raised that their operations have focused on individual, institute-specific plans, leading to insufficient alignment with national science and technology strategies. To address this, the amendment requires the Minister of Science and ICT to establish a five-year master plan for the operation of and research support for government-funded research institutes. This plan will then be finalized through deliberation by the National Science and Technology Advisory Council, thereby enhancing the systematization and consistency of the operations of these institutes.

Additionally, the amendment abolishes the legal procedures for the reappointment of institute presidents, reflecting criticism that the reappointment system—initially introduced so that presidents with exemplary performance could manage institutes stably with a long-term vision—has not functioned as intended.

Meanwhile, according to a comprehensive survey conducted by Assemblywoman Hyunyup Kwon’s office for the 2025 parliamentary audit across all ministries, sunk costs resulting from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s R&D budget cuts totaled 356 billion won.

Due to the R&D budget cuts, as many as six ministries each incurred over 10 billion won in sunk costs for projects that were proceeding smoothly but were discontinued. The ministries and their respective sunk costs were as follows: Ministry of SMEs and Startups, 70.568 billion won; Defense Acquisition Program Administration, 69.189 billion won; Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, 63.781 billion won; Ministry of Science and ICT, 61.473 billion won; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 38.018 billion won; and the Office for Government Policy Coordination, 28.651 billion won.

Assemblywoman Hyunyup Kwon stated, “Government-funded research institutes are a core infrastructure supporting the nation’s competitiveness in science and technology and are at the forefront of the global technological hegemony race.” She emphasized, “To prevent a recurrence of reckless R&D budget cuts like those under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, R&D must be systematically and consistently promoted centered around the five-year master plan.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.