Judul : Dr. Jung: Korea's R&D Short-Term, Connection-Driven
link : Dr. Jung: Korea's R&D Short-Term, Connection-Driven
Dr. Jung: Korea's R&D Short-Term, Connection-Driven
A specialist in internal medicine, Dr. Jung Hee-won, who was instrumental in promoting "slow aging," expressed criticism towards South Korea's domestic research and development (R&D) system, describing it as "short-term oriented" and "network-driven."
As per the science and technology community on the 21st, Dr. Jung recently shared a video titled *‘Why South Korea Has No, and Probably Will Never Have, Nobel Science Laureates’* on his YouTube channel. He mentioned, "Even with significant funding, underlying challenges like top-down methods, focus on immediate outcomes, and authoritarian tendencies continue," and noted, "Until these barriers are addressed, achieving Nobel Prize winners in science will stay difficult."
Sharing his 12-year experience in crafting research proposals as a medical scientist, he stated, "The Nobel Prize shouldn't be the objective," while highlighting, "The lack of Nobel science winners is one indicator of R&D conditions." He added, "Funding levels are high, yet results are minimal."
Dr. Jung pointed out that although South Korea's yearly research and development funding surpasses 20 trillion won, placing it among the highest globally in terms of volume, its performance metrics remain at the lower end.
As a key concern, he highlighted the domestic R&D environment's emphasis on short-term research, which hinders long-term studies. He mentioned that Korean research focuses on applied technology investments through 3–5 year short-term projects, saying, "If a research project gets an insufficient (C) rating, you can't obtain national projects again, so they are 100% successful." Referencing an article, he continued, "One needs to thoroughly engage in research for approximately 30 years to win a Nobel Prize," and emphasized, "A system that accepts failure is the basis of science," urging, "Korea should move towards a long-term framework."
He also criticized the fact that short-term performance pressures result in outsourcing research evaluations to foreign countries, which lowers the quality of local academic journals. Dr. Jung stated, "High Impact Factor (IF·Citation Index) overseas journals such as *Nature* charge publication fees ranging from $5,000 to $7,000 (approximately 7,300,000 to 10,000,000 Korean won), leading to an outflow of foreign currency," and further mentioned, "Publishing abroad weakens soft power." He pointed out, "Research tends to focus on topics that interest overseas editors," creating a negative cycle where domestic journals get fewer submissions, their quality deteriorates, and more money continues to leave the country for publications.
Dr. Jung linked present R&D challenges to the inability to break away from established practices, such as previous collusion in splitting research money. He pointed out the continued presence of "research fund seekers"—scholars who use their influence to obtain major projects. He stated, "Individuals in higher roles distribute significant funds, and strong connections help secure larger portions; the ability to carry out tasks can be purchased with money, and past experience results in more financial support," concluding, "There are many talented researchers, but not everyone qualifies."
He added, "Concentrating on major initiatives requires no upfront costs, which makes it difficult for independent scholars to obtain funding," and mentioned, "Even experienced researchers often struggle to get projects approved. For those without tenure like me, the number of available opportunities has significantly dropped in the last decade."
Dr. Jung stated, "In Korea, attempting something new is not encouraged; the simplest approach is to copy popular research from other countries," and further noted, "Suggesting something original often leads to doubt—‘Where did you get that?’—so scholars follow trends and employ short-term strategies."
In the end, he remarked, "Korea's support for early-career researchers is insufficient in terms of starting funding and tends to concentrate on areas that are currently popular," adding, "Senior professors often use the names of newly appointed faculty members to author emerging research, and within the group of early-career researchers, those who have published papers in *Nature* or *Science*-level journals in promising fields are mainly chosen."
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