[Interview] Cha Sang-gyun "Korea's Leap as an Asia Research Hub, Targeting the 'Gap' Amid US-China Hegemony War"

<Asia Economy Inaugural Project - Questioning the Economy of the Republic of Korea>
③ Cha Sang-gyun, Dean of the Graduate School of Data Science, Seoul National University

Advanced Science and Technology Led by the US... China's Technological Innovation Expected to Slow
Global Big Tech Research Labs Moving Away from China Should Be Attracted to Korea
Remove Departmental Barriers to Foster Convergent Talent and Create an Environment to Attract Global Talent

Director Sangkyun Cha of the Graduate School of Data Science at Seoul National University is being interviewed by Asia Economy on the 9th. / Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] "The U.S. technology blockade against China has created a 'vacuum' for South Korea. We must seize this opportunity to attract global big tech companies accelerating de-Chinaization to establish their research centers in Korea and transform the country into a research and development hub within Asia."

Cha Sangkyun, Dean of the Graduate School of Data Science at Seoul National University, said in a recent interview commemorating the 33rd anniversary of Asia Economy's founding, "The U.S. will continue to lead advanced science and technology, and China's technological innovation and pursuit, trapped within the U.S. containment, will slow down," urging to target this 'gap.'

The U.S. is restructuring supply chains excluding China by partnering with allied countries, focusing on advanced industries such as semiconductors, batteries, artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation communications (6G), and biotechnology. Professor Cha, an authority in big data, advised that if global companies' research centers in China relocate overseas due to U.S.-China conflicts, Korea should attract them to strengthen its strategic position and become an R&D hub in Asia. He emphasized that the government, industry, and academia must unite efforts. He also highlighted the need to break down academic silos by major within universities to nurture convergent talents required in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era and to build infrastructure that actively attracts overseas talent.

－The U.S.-China hegemonic competition is intense.

▲In December 2018, I attended the Korea-U.S. public-private joint economic forum held in Washington D.C. At that time, the U.S. side said, "We must contain China by joining hands with South Korea, Japan, and including Vietnam, Australia, and Taiwan." This was right after the news broke that Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's Vice Chairwoman and CFO, was arrested at Vancouver Airport in Canada at the U.S.'s request. It was the official start of the U.S.-China war. It was a foreseeable event. Observing closely, China's talent recruitment was aggressively intense, and the pace of innovation was very fast. I expected the U.S. to intervene.

－From an academic perspective, how aggressive is China's talent recruitment policy?

▲China is operating the 'Thousand Talents Plan' project to recruit overseas talent and become the world's top scientific power. I was scouted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017 but declined. Later, during research exchanges, I visited Tsinghua University's Shenzhen campus, where they also made offers to our professors. For core universities like Tsinghua, the research funding provided to professors alone is about $10 million (approximately 1.12 billion KRW). They also support startup funds in the future. Money is not everything. The government provides real-time satellite imagery data so that universities can develop AI-based fine dust prediction systems. This is impossible in the U.S. or Korea due to national security issues. There is full support from central and local governments to recruit high-level talent and focus on R&D.

－How will the U.S.-China hegemonic war unfold, and what impact will it have on Korea?

▲The U.S. will continue to lead advanced science and technology. Korea's strategic importance will increase. Especially, we are a semiconductor powerhouse. As 'FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google)' grows, the cloud industry develops, increasing demand for semiconductors from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. China's pursuit will slow down. It may take at least 10, 20 years, or possibly longer, for U.S.-China relations to improve. We gain that much time.

－How can we utilize this opportunity?

▲The U.S.-China conflict creates a vacuum. In the past, American companies like Microsoft (MS) and Google established research centers in China, a huge market. Now, these research centers must move to other parts of Asia. Korea must become Asia's R&D hub. Conversely, the positions China occupied in U.S. universities, research centers, and institutions will inevitably shrink. Korea must fill that vacuum.

－What kind of talent should be nurtured in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era?

▲Currently, the barriers between majors within universities and graduate schools are too high. Even in data science, talent should be recruited and nurtured regardless of major. For example, someone who majored in history as an undergraduate but studied data science in a master's program. In the future, by applying data science to vast historical data analysis, they can discover records that traditional historians missed or misinterpreted and reconstruct historical facts. Majors in history, education, economics, and medicine should acquire data science literacy and develop their original fields. Innovation is possible only by removing academic boundaries. Global talent must also be actively recruited.

－What is the government's role?

▲The government must fully support major U.S. companies, leaders in global science and technology, to establish research centers domestically. It should be recognized that MS research centers contributed enormously to China's AI industry development. An environment to attract global talent must also be established. Previously, dual employment regulations were strict, making it difficult to recruit overseas talent, but with support from related ministries and revisions to school regulations, Dr. Lee Junseok, a research engineer at Google's headquarters, was recruited as a professor. One professor is a very small research center. The government must lay the infrastructure to continuously attract excellent global talent.