[Ministry of Science and ICT Work Plan] After the Gyeongbuk National University Lab Fire... STEM University Students Also Eligible for Industrial Accident Insurance

Efforts to Realize an Inclusive Society
Expansion of Postdoctoral Program Support
Increase AI Graduate Schools to Train 100,000 Talents

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] On December 27, 2019, an explosion occurred in a laboratory at Kyungpook National University, causing 1st to 2nd degree burns on the entire body of young science and engineering students in their 20s. Before the burns could even heal, the university caused a second wound by announcing the suspension of treatment payments after just five months, citing budget shortages. There were virtually no minimum safety measures in place. In response, the government has decided to establish an industrial accident insurance system for science and engineering undergraduate and graduate students to prevent a second wave of affected students.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that as part of its 2021 work plan, it will prepare a system through consultations with related ministries to allow science and engineering university (and graduate) students to be covered by industrial accident insurance. This is one of the measures to foster young talent as part of efforts to realize an inclusive society.

This issue was also pointed out during the National Assembly audit. At the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee’s audit held in October last year, ruling and opposition lawmakers urged the government and the National Assembly to make efforts and establish solutions for the victims of accidents. Lim Deok-gi, the father of a victim, attended as a witness and said, "Every year, victims occur due to laboratory accidents, but it feels like an echo in the void. I came out with a heavy heart for my daughter to call for measures to prevent recurrence." In fact, statistics show that nearly 70% of the approximately 920 laboratory accident victims over the past five years were student researchers.

Support measures will also be strengthened to enable postdoctoral (postdoc) researchers to conduct free and autonomous research. For example, the 'Sejong Science Fellowship' will be newly established to support 300 people annually with about 130 billion KRW. The KIURI (Korea Institute for University Research and Innovation) project, which supports the growth of science and engineering research talent, will also be expanded from the existing 4 research groups to 6.

To foster female scientists, plans to create a work-family balance culture will be prepared in the first half of this year. Graduate schools related to artificial intelligence (AI), called the future growth engine, will be expanded from 8 as of the end of 2010 to 10 this year. The long-term goal is to nurture 100,000 core talents in AI and software by 2025. The target for this year is 16,000.

To bridge the digital divide, digital competency education will be provided to 270,000 citizens, and an additional 15,000 public Wi-Fi spots will be established. Security consulting will be conducted for 1,270 small and medium enterprises, and 70,000 remote PC security checks for the public will also be supported.