Im Hye-sook, Reviving Support for STEM Fields... "Must Demonstrate Leadership to Solve Various Issues"

Ministry of Science and ICT Inauguration Ceremony at 3:30 PM on the 14th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] For the first time in history, a woman has become the first Minister of Science and ICT. After enduring many controversies and suspicions, thanks to the support from the academic community, the article was revived and she was ultimately appointed. Attention is focused on whether she can turn the controversies and suspicions surrounding her into an opportunity and demonstrate inclusive, warm, yet resolute leadership to resolve various pressing policy issues.

The National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee held a standing committee meeting around 8:10 p.m. on the 13th and adopted the confirmation hearing report for Im Hye-sook, the nominee for Minister of Science and ICT. The ruling party handled it unilaterally with all opposition members absent. After the ruling party unilaterally passed the confirmation of Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum in the plenary session, they also pushed through the appointment procedures for nominee Im and nominee Noh Hyung-wook for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It is known that President Moon Jae-in plans to approve the appointment of nominee Im and others by the morning of the 14th. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that nominee Im will pay respects at the National Daejeon National Cemetery at 2:30 p.m. and hold an official inauguration ceremony an hour later.

Nominee Im is a former professor of electronic engineering at Ewha Womans University and has a career that monopolized the "first-ever" titles in the male-dominated field of electrical engineering. A representative example is that she was the first woman to serve as president of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers. Accordingly, she has represented women scientists and engineers, including being appointed as chairperson of the National Science and Technology Research Council (NST), which oversees 25 government-funded research institutes in science and technology, in January upon recommendation from the Federation of Korean Women Scientists and Engineers. The Blue House considered the fact that she had only been chairperson of NST for three months a burden, but it is known that they chose her to break the particularly strong "glass ceiling" in the science and technology sector and to maintain the presidential campaign pledge of "maintaining the ratio of female ministers."

However, the appointment process was not smooth. Many issues were raised as suspicions or controversies, including accompanying family members on overseas academic trips, plagiarism of papers, false address registration, under-the-table contracts, and unqualified appointment as NST chairperson (due to holding Democratic Party membership). The most painful criticism for nominee Im was the accusation that she accompanied her spouse and daughter on overseas academic trips. In today's Korean society, where "fairness" is the top issue, the criticism that family members rode free on accommodation expenses funded by public money was the most painful rebuke. The National Public Research Workers' Union even released a poll showing that 52.5% of its researchers opposed nominee Im's appointment. Nominee Im bowed her head, saying, "It is customary to accompany family members on overseas academic trips, and the accompanying persons paid for their own airfare and meals," but admitted, "I was not considerate."

The opposition parties and some public opinions were harsh toward nominee Im. The People Power Party, which called for the resignation of all three minister nominees, as well as the Justice Party, reportedly placed nominee Im's name on their "death note," leading to speculation at one point that she might voluntarily resign.

However, nominee Im is evaluated to have seized a chance for a turnaround thanks to strong support from fellow scholars. Regarding the plagiarism allegations raised by the opposition about nominee Im's students' papers, science and engineering scholars strongly defended her, saying, "They do not understand the nature of academic research." Unlike humanities disciplines where originality of sentences is important, science and engineering papers are conducted in a "project" format where students and professors jointly generate ideas, conduct experiments, and draw conclusions. Afterwards, each writes their own thesis or publishes papers based on this, so the opposition's claims about overlapping sentences or results are not problematic at all.

In fact, the three major science and engineering organizations?the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and the Korean Council of Science Journal Editors?held an emergency meeting after nominee Im was heavily criticized at the confirmation hearing on the 4th. They concluded that if the opposition's plagiarism allegations became accepted as fact, the entire science and engineering community could be labeled as plagiarists. These three organizations issued a joint statement on the 6th, two days after the hearing, strongly defending her by saying, "There is no basis for the plagiarism allegations. Nominee Im's method of writing papers is rather encouraged in the science and engineering fields."

Women scientists and engineers also supported nominee Im. The Federation of Korean Women Scientists and Engineers unusually issued a statement on the 7th, saying, "As a female scientist, overcoming many difficulties and standing out in the electrical and electronic fields to contribute to scientific development would have been difficult without persistent effort and expertise," and "We expect that the diverse field experience and leadership she has acquired will greatly contribute to innovation and strengthening competitiveness in Korea's national science and technology sector."

Regarding the most controversial issue of accompanying family members on overseas trips, voices defending nominee Im emerged mainly from science and engineering professors. Kim Myung-jun, chairman of the Council of Science and Technology Research Institutes, wrote in an Asia Economy opinion piece on the 10th, "Accompanying family members on official overseas academic trips may still be unfamiliar to our sensibilities," but argued, "From the perspective of international academic conferences, family accompaniment on overseas trips is recognized as a motivational factor that attracts distinguished scholars giving keynote speeches or special lectures and encourages submission of high-quality papers, and it is a common research culture internationally."

In the science and technology community, attention is focused on whether nominee Im, who has finally become the "first female head of the science and technology sector" after much struggle, can turn adversity into opportunity and demonstrate leadership to resolve pressing issues.

A science and technology insider said, "In the midst of the US-China hegemony competition, science and technology such as semiconductors, 5G, and artificial intelligence (AI) have become major battlegrounds, making the insight and drive of the head of the relevant ministry crucial," adding, "Since science and technology are means to secure national competitiveness and survival?such as achieving carbon neutrality to overcome the climate crisis, overcoming public health crises through COVID-19 vaccine development, the discharge of contaminated water from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, and the volcanic eruption of Baekdu Mountain?nominee Im should not be obsessed with titles like 'first-ever' but firmly grasp the issues and seek solutions together with field researchers and public officials."